Trump's Economy: Treating Symptoms; Ignoring the Disease
The first week of January 2026 brought a flurry of presidential announcements aimed at America's housing crisis: a proposed ban on institutional investors buying single-family homes, and a directive to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds. These moves sound bold. They're meant to. But they're economic theater—flashy interventions that ignore the deeper forces actually squeezing working families.
What Trump Announced
On January 7th, President Trump announced via Truth Social that he would "immediately" ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes. The next day, he directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds, claiming it would lower mortgage rates for everyday buyers.
The market reacted. Shares of major rental housing companies dropped sharply. Headlines declared the president was fighting for homeowners. But look closer, and the strategy falls apart.
