Trump Has Big Plans for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

President Trump has moved his attention to the mortgages market—specifically, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage giants. Per Axios, the US president on Tuesday evening wrote in a Truth Social post that he's "giving very serious consideration" to bringing the government-sponsored mortgage firms public, noting that he plans to speak with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and William Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, before making a final call.

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of CASH, and the time would seem to be right. Stay tuned!" Trump wrote. Per the National Association of Realtors, the two companies together support about 70% of mortgages in the United States. The Wall Street Journal notes that talks to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been under the government's purview since the 2008 financial crisis, have been happening quietly among Trump allies since last year, even before Trump took office.

Although supporters claim that privatization could help bring the deficit down and put money back in taxpayers' pockets, critics warn that doing so without a careful roadmap could spook buyers of mortgage-backed securities and cause mortgage rates to spike. A proposal that's been going around in Trump circles estimated that the two firms would be valued at more than $330 billion if privatized, with the government's stake in that at $250 billion-plus, per the Journal. (More Fannie Mae stories.)