2024-09-13 20:21:36
Donald Trump is considering privatizing two state-owned real estate financiers. The US Congress is to be bypassed in the process.
According to a newspaper report, US presidential candidate Donald Trump is considering privatizing the real estate finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Partners of the ex-president, including former director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow and former director of the President’s Personnel Office John McEntee, are working on corresponding plans, reported the Wall Street Journal. The two state-owned companies and Trump’s campaign team did not initially comment on the report.
At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, the US government saved the two real estate financiers from collapse with $187.5 billion. The paper reported that Trump’s allies were looking for ways to circumvent the US Congress in the event of a privatization.
There have been previous attempts to give up government control of Fannie and Freddie, including under the Trump presidency. One reason for this may be that both mortgage banks have stabilized well in the years following the financial crisis and are generating billions in profits.
Fannie Mae was founded in 1938 as a government-owned bank. After it was privatized in 1968, Congress approved the creation of Freddie Mac in 1970. The aim was to prevent Fannie Mae from having a monopoly position and to ensure more competition in the market.