President Donald Trump teased the idea of making mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public since the two finance companies manage the majority of mortgages.
This would be Trump’s second effort to transition the government-sponsored enterprises into public companies. The company was put under conservatorship after the 2008 housing crisis.
In 2019, Trump penned a memo to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to draft a plan on how it could happen. The Wall Street Journal reported that renewed efforts have been under consideration since last year.
“I am giving very serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public,” Trump posted Wednesday on Truth Social. “I will be speaking with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, among others, and will be making a decision in the near future. 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!”
Pulte, an online philanthropist and investor, is the grandson of William J. Pulte, the founder of Pulte Homes, which is the third-largest homebuilder in the United States, having built over 800,000 homes from 1950 to today. Both Pulte and Lutnick reshared Trump’s message on their respective X accounts.
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Last year, Fannie Mae raked in over $29 billion in net revenues, which was only a slight increase from 2023. The company manages over 1.5 million mortgages, refinances, and rental units according to its latest financial release.
Freddie Mac made $3.2 billion in net revenues last year with its 539,000 homes and rental units financed. Revenues have been on the rise for the company since the first quarter of 2024.