District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, who led the charge against the Vista Park Apartment complex project, speaks to reporters last month. Credit: Michael Karlis

Councilman Marc Whyte came under fire from his colleagues Wednesday after attempting to downplaying how President Donald Trump’s executive orders could affect the city’s budget and residents’ rights.

“The doom and gloom about what’s happening on the federal level, frankly, I think is overblown and really needs to stop,” Whyte, who represents District 10, said during a lengthy rant that garnered eye rolls and audible scoffs from most other council members.

The fireworks came during Council’s B session Wednesday, during which Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle and Director of Government Affairs Sally Basurto briefed council on how Trump’s attempt to freeze federal funds and grants could impact the city’s budget.

Indeed, $326 million of San Antonio’s $3.9 billion 2025 fiscal budget comes from federal funding.

Even so, Whyte, the lone conservative the dias, argued that City Council should not publicly criticize the Trump Administration if their federal funding is at risk.

“I think would be foolish to sit here and say that we’re going to publicly criticize this administration, we’re going to push back on everything that they do, and then expect them to send grant money here to San Antonio like we’ve been receiving in the past,” Whyte said. “It’s not going to happen.”

Whyte then said he didn’t recall “any public statements being made criticizing the Biden Administration” and went on a tirade about the previous president’s perceived failures as president before being cut off by District 9 Councilman John Courage, who accused Whyte of political grandstanding.

Whyte, who argued that his colleagues should stop acting as if they’re “under attack,” made his comments as hundreds of students from San Antonio ISD held a rally outside of City Hall against Trump’s policies. The student were protesting Trump orders, including one which would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct raids in sensitive locations such as schools and churches.

In a passionate speech following Whyte’s tirade, District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran said Trump’s policies aren’t aren’t so much about public safety as they are showing his distaste for brown people.

District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez reminded Council that the words of local lawmakers can have a hurtful effect on the community, especially children. He was the only council member to make an appearance at Wednesday’s SAISD walkout protest.

Meanwhile, Mayor Ron Nirenberg called the Trump Administration’s actions “unconstitutional.”

Even so, District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez was the only member of council to address Whyte’s remarks head-on. He compared the Trump Administration to a domestic abuser.

“‘We need to get along’ is the one thing you never tell a battered woman,” said Peláez, a mayoral candidate whose mother leads San Antonio’s Family Violence Prevention Services Inc.

“You need to get along with your abuser. You need to lay back and let it happen because if you complain you might come across as ungrateful to your abuser,” Peláez continued. “You might not like everything your abuser does to you, but he pays the rent, and if he sees you get too uppity, he might retaliate, and he will rightfully say, ‘Look what you made me do.’ That’s the we-need-to-get-along argument, and it’s gross.”

Whyte snapped back, calling Peláez’s analogy between the Trump Administration and a domestic abuser “gross.”

Pelaez walked out of the meeting shortly before its conclusion.

Council is expected to be updated weekly on how Trump’s executive orders — which now total more than 70 in the three weeks since he’s taken office — affect San Antonio’s bottom line and policy.

It’s not the first time Whyte’s MAGA-aligned views have garnered controversy.

In December, Nirenberg lambasted the councilman for publicly promoting a conspiracy theory that San Antonio’s housing bonds were going toward undocumented migrants.

In a press release earlier this week, Whyte also celebrated San Antonio’s decision to close its Migrant Resource Center, adding that the city should “never consider using our residents’ tax dollars to fund such an operation.”

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Feb 5-18, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...