The Trump administration’s scathing letter resurrecting Mayor Michelle Wu’s “morally repugnant” whites-not-allowed holiday party and concluding her DEI policies are discriminatory is the latest escalation of the city’s war with the Republican president.

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HUD launches federal investigation into Boston’s alleged DEI housing discrimination

“The City has been very public about its intention to discriminate on the basis of race,” Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary Craig W. Trainor said in a letter to Boston’s Democratic mayor, opening up an investigation of the city’s housing policy that favors Black and Latino residents.

But the charges went far beyond just her housing policy, opening up another major front in the battle with Wu, which has launched her into national prominence.

Wu has basked and even benefited from the attention from Trump but while the HUD charges could give Wu a short-term victory, they come with serious long-term risk.

The new investigation by the feds could lead to a criminal referral to the Department of Justice and penalties against fiscally-challenged Boston, like withholding federal funding.

The letter also raises some uncomfortable issues like the mayor’s infamous “electeds of color” holiday party which banned white elected officials and defined her nationally.

Wu was pilloried by some media for the party and it did not play well in many quarters of the country.

The invitation to the party was mistakenly sent out to the entire City Council, which Wu called a “mistake.” Wu got Black elected leaders like Council President Ruthzee Louijeune to defend the party, saying they needed “a space…to come together.”

The HUD letter cited the party as an example of the city implementing “racially discriminatory plans.”

The new HUD probe was launched because “City officials have brazenly endorsed, outlined and implemented a city-wide system for allocating scarce housing resources based on race, color and/or national origin,” the letter says.

In a separate statement, HUD Secretary Scott Turner blasted Boston’s “social engineering project that intentionally advances discriminatory housing policies driven by an ideological commitment to DEI rather than merit or need.”

“This warped mentality will be fully exposed, and Boston will come into full compliance with federal anti-discrimination law,” Turner added.

A Wu spokesman on Friday remained defiant, saying “Boston will never abandon our commitment to fair and affordable housing, and we will defend our progress to keep Bostonians in their homes against these unhinged attacks from Washington.”

But Wu is set to raise property taxes for Boston residents another 13% and can little afford to see funding slashed from housing and other programs.

Trump has brought Harvard to its knees, so he could try to do the same thing to cities like Boston.

Politically, the housing investigation could be an attempt by the Trump administration to neutralize Wu, who has been a consistent thorn in their side.

But it’s a victory of sorts that Trump is now recognizing Wu enough to single her out. She can now even fundraise off the HUD letter while complaining Boston is under attack, a line that played well in her mayoral campaign.

The Trump administration is targeting public housing in Boston. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)