WASHINGTON—White House officials are reportedly seething at Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who persuaded President Trump to float a 50-year mortgage proposal, according to POLITICO.
POLITICO reported that sources familiar with internal discussions said the West Wing was caught off guard by the idea and is now scrambling to contain backlash from conservative allies, business leaders, and lawmakers.
On Saturday evening, Pulte arrived at President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach Golf Club with a roughly 3-by-5 posterboard in hand. A graphic of former President Franklin Roosevelt appeared below “30-year mortgage” and one of Trump below “50-year mortgage.” The headline was “Great American Presidents,” POLITICO explained.
About ten minutes later, Trump shared the image on Truth Social, according to one person who was with him at the time. Within moments, aides began receiving irate calls from allies who blasted the notion of a 50-year mortgage as both politically risky and economically misguided—a proposal they warned could ultimately drive housing costs higher, POLITICO said.
“He just sold POTUS a bill of goods that wasn’t necessarily accurate,” the person said, according to 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.”