The administration could be backing off plans for an initial public offering of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Federal Housing Director Bill Pulte signaled on Tuesday.
But Pulte stressed that President Donald Trump will make the final decision.
“President Trump keeps options on the table — all options at all times,” Pulte said on Fox Business when host Maria Bartiromo asked him about the potential for public offerings of the government-sponsored mortgage giants. “But the reality is, we don’t have to do that.”
Pulte told her the administration is well-positioned to make “big, bold decisions,” like the call to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds, to address voters’ housing affordability concerns.
Comments Reflect a Shift
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to Politico, “President Trump pledged to put an end to Joe Biden’s inflation and affordability crisis, and the Administration is constantly exploring new policy actions to do just that.”
Pulte’s comments show a recent shift in how Trump administration officials have discussed selling stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which provide liquidity to the home loan market by purchasing mortgages from lenders to sell as securities to investors.
Politico pointed out that Trump met with several leading banks over the summer to discuss how to structure and price potential public offerings for the government-sponsored enterprises.
The initial plans for a potential public offering would have valued the two companies at around $500 billion and involved selling 5 percent to 15 percent of their stock, Politico reported. It was unclear, however, whether the GSEs would go through the initial public offering process together or separately.
‘A Truly Great Decision’
In May, Trump posted on his Truth Social account, “I am working on TAKING THESE AMAZING COMPANIES PUBLIC.”
But in another Truth Social post last month, Trump described the call to not sell ownership in Fannie and Freddie in his first term as “a truly great decision.”
When asked Tuesday about the odds of an IPO happening this year, Pulte replied, “I think they’re very strong, but I think it’s very strong that President Trump wants to do something else. It’s entirely up to him.”
“There’s only one person who knows,” Pulte said. “And frankly, it’s him.”
