President Donald Trump does not think a 50-year mortgage is a “big deal” despite MAGA conservatives ripping the proposal over the weekend.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte claimed on Saturday the Trump administration is “working on” a 50-year mortgage plan — a significant shift from the standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage established after the Great Depression. MAGA influencers sharply criticized the proposal, arguing it would leave Americans in debt for most of their lives.
Fox News’ Laura Ingraham pressed Trump on the mortgage idea during an interview that aired on “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday.
“Your housing director has proposed something that has enraged your MAGA friends, which is this 50-year mortgage idea. So a significant MAGA backlash, calling it a giveaway to the banks and simply prolonging the time it would take for Americans to own a home outright. Is that really a good idea?” Ingraham asked Trump.
The president brushed aside any concerns.
“It’s not even a big deal. I mean, you know, you go from 40 to 50 years,” Trump said, before Ingraham noted that the mortgage would go from 30 to 50 years.
“All it means is you pay less per month. You pay it over a longer period of time. It’s not like a big factor. It might help a little bit,” Trump said.
He then bashed former President Joe Biden and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for high interest rates.
“But the problem was that Biden did this. He increased the interest rates. And I have a lousy Ged person who’s going to be gone in a few months,” Trump said before vowing to “get interest rates down.”
“But even with interest rates up, the economy is the strongest it’s ever been,” he added.
While Trump brushed off the backlash to the plan, Politico reported on Monday that the White House is “furious” with Pulte over the 50-year mortgage proposal. Two people familiar with the situation told Politico that officials were blindsided by the idea, which came when Pulte pitched it to the president on Saturday evening.
According to Politico, Pulte showed arrived at Trump’s Palm Beach Golf Club with a posterboard that depicted former President Franklin Roosevelt and Trump side-by-side. Roosevelt appeared under the headline, “30-year mortgage,” and Trump appeared below “50-year mortgage.” The title was “Great American Presidents.”
Politico reported that Trump posted the graphic to Truth Social about 10 minutes later.
He just sold POTUS a bill of goods that wasn’t necessarily accurate,” one of the sources told Politico. “He said ‘FDR did it, you can do it, it’s gonna be a big thing.’ But he didn’t tell him about all the unintended consequences.”
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