President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he plans to lower mortgage rates, but days later his unrelated comments may have pushed mortgage rates in a different direction.
President Trump took center stage Wednesday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where he shared his views on, among other things, mortgage rates, the U.S. housing market and his plans to name a new chairman of the Federal Reserve.
President Trump’s comments on housing were highly anticipated, but the drama he stirred up over his outspoken desire to take over Greenland from Denmark has taken a backseat in recent days. His comments are widely believed to have caused mortgage rates to rise from three-year lows in recent days.
Interest rates fell to about 6%, the lowest level in nearly three years, after President Trump announced orders for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy mortgage bonds earlier this month.
President Donald Trump delivers a special speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, January 21, 2026 (Photo by Mandel NGAN/AFP, Getty Images)
President Trump reiterated his earlier announcement Wednesday that he has “directed government-backed financial institutions to purchase up to $200 billion in mortgage bonds to lower interest rates.”
However, on Tuesday, the rate jumped to 6.21%.
President Trump also said Wednesday that he intends to be “very protective of people who already own homes” in pursuit of his stated goal of affordable housing.
“Because we did so well, home values went up so much, and these people got rich. They weren’t rich. They got rich because of their homes,” Trump said.
His comments highlighted the quagmire that exists in the U.S. housing market. How can policymakers make housing more affordable for new buyers without impacting the net worth of existing homeowners?
President Trump said making housing more affordable “obviously undermines the value of these homes because one thing works in conjunction with the other.”
“I don’t want to do anything to undermine the value of people who own a home and walk down the street for the first time in their lives, proud that their home is worth $500, no matter what city they live in.[,000]$600[,000]$700,000,” he said.
“If you really want to crush the housing market, do it fast enough so people can buy homes. But you’re going to crush a lot of people who already own homes.”
institutional investors
In his speech, President Trump again took aim at institutional investors who buy single-family homes.
“But housing is built for people, not businesses,” President Trump said at Davos. “America is not going to be a nation of renters. We’re not going to be that.”
On Tuesday, President Trump signed an executive order that increases oversight of companies that buy single-family homes. According to Reuters, the order is aimed at allowing individuals to buy foreclosed properties rather than investors.
“Many of you, the giants of Wall Street and institutional investors, have been here in recent years, and many of you are good friends and supporters of mine,” President Trump said Wednesday. “I’m sorry for doing this. I’m so sorry. But you bought hundreds of thousands of single-family homes and inflated home prices. It was a great investment on their part. In many cases, it’s 10 percent of the homes on the market.”
In his speech, President Trump called on Congress to formally pass a bill banning institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes.
new fed chair
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
President Trump also continued to hint at the upcoming nomination of a new chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Current Chairman Jerome Powell’s term ends in May, and President Trump said he was interviewing his successor.
“All the people I interviewed were great people. I think everyone could do a great job. The problem is, once they get the job, they change. Look, they tell me all the things I want to hear. And they get the job. They’ve been locked up for six years. They get the job. And all of a sudden, let’s raise the rate a little bit.”
Mr. Trump, who nominated Mr. Powell for Mr. Powell in 2017, kept the focus on the Fed chairman during Wednesday’s speech.
“We have a terrible chairman right now, Jerome ‘Too Slow’ Powell. He’s always too slow. And on interest rates, he’s very slow, except before the election,” Trump said. “He was no problem for the other team, so we’re going to have a great player and I hope he does the right job.”
Notably absent from Wednesday’s speech were details about a recent plan to allow homebuyers to use their retirement accounts to buy a home without incurring penalties.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform earlier this month that he would discuss the details in his speech at Davos.
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