President Trump has tossed a financial curveball with a 50-year mortgage idea that’s got White House officials scratching their heads and grumbling behind closed doors.
CBS News reported that a proposal for extending mortgage terms to 50 years, pitched by federal housing official Bill Pulte, was shared with Trump over a weekend chat at Mar-a-Lago, only to be blasted out on Truth Social before the administration could even debate its merits, sparking frustration among top aides.
This all kicked off when Pulte, head of the independent Federal Housing Finance Agency—which oversees giants like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—sat down with Trump at his Florida estate to discuss stretching home loans to half a century.
Before the ink could dry on any serious policy discussion, Trump gave the green light for a Truth Social post at 1:10 p.m. on Saturday, November 8, 2025, complete with a flashy banner comparing himself to FDR, touting “30-year mortgage” under Roosevelt and “50-year mortgage” under Trump.
Not even 30 minutes later, Pulte jumped on X to amplify the post, declaring, “We are indeed working on The 50-year Mortgage — a complete game changer,” as if the deal was already sealed.
Well, hold the champagne—turns out, this grand reveal wasn’t run by key administration figures, and sources say some officials were downright irritated with Pulte for jumping the gun on a half-baked concept.
Behind the scenes, casual talks about 40- and 50-year mortgages had been floating around, with heavyweights like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett in the mix, though no firm decisions were ever reached.
The broader context here is a housing market that’s squeezing Americans dry—home prices averaged $410,800 in Q2 of 2025, a whopping 25% jump since early 2020, per Federal Reserve data, while typical homeowners shell out 39% of their income on housing, well above the recommended 30% threshold.
Even with mortgage rates dipping slightly in 2025, they’re still hovering above 6%, double the lows of the pandemic era, making affordability a top concern for the administration, which has been brainstorming other solutions to ease the crunch.
Despite the internal grumbling—Politico reports White House officials were notably upset with Pulte—Trump doubled down in a Monday night interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” casually shrugging, “All it means is you pay less per month.”
He added, “It might help a little bit,” which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but it shows he’s not backing away from the concept despite the backstage drama.
Analysts, however, are raising eyebrows, pointing out that while monthly payments might shrink with a 50-year term, the total interest paid over five decades could be a budget-buster for homeowners already stretched thin.
With no additional details on the proposal released and Pulte staying mum for now, the administration seems caught between wanting bold ideas and needing to iron out the kinks before going public.
At the end of the day, the Trump team is clearly wrestling with how to tackle a housing crisis that’s hitting everyday Americans hard, but prematurely floating unvetted plans like this 50-year mortgage risks looking more like a publicity stunt than a serious policy fix.