In March of last year, my daughter Margot was born, and like any new father, I found myself thinking about the opportunities that would shape her future. I recently enrolled her in a Trump Account, President Donald Trump’s initiative to help American children begin building wealth from an early age. With a $1,000 federal contribution for eligible children born between 2025 and 2028, the program gives the next generation an opportunity to benefit from decades of investment growth.
As President Trump’s former Federal Housing Administration Commissioner, I also believe Trump Accounts should be just the beginning for how we can help young Americans build lasting wealth. In particular, I think we are at a pivotal point in American history to enact new policies to help generations of families achieve financial independence through owning their first home.
At 20 years old, I purchased my first house for $200,000 using an FHA-insured mortgage that required just 3.5% down, or $7,000. I also benefited from an $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. Today, that property has more than doubled in value. Yet I worry that the path to homeownership is becoming increasingly difficult for Margots generation. According to the National Association of Realtors, first-time buyers now account for just 21% of home purchases, the lowest share on record since tracking began in 1981.
WHO WANTS THEIR CHILD TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? TRUMP HAS GIVEN YOU THAT CHANCE
The natural next step after the Presidents creation of Trump Accounts for young children is to help this same generation achieve the dream of homeownership. I believe this new policy should be called a Trump Mortgage program, which can be a national initiative designed to help qualified first-time homebuyers secure mortgage rates one to one-and-a-half percentage points below prevailing market rates.
Heres how we can develop the policy for the Trump Mortgage: First, the Treasury, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac can immediately purchase the mortgage bonds backed by qualifying first-time homebuyer mortgages. The objective would be to facilitate the financing of these mortgages at lower rates using the secondary bond market, similar to a strategy already being deployed by Secretary Bessent and FHFA Director Pulte.
TRUMP-BACKED HOUSING OVERHAUL TARGETING WALL STREET INVESTORS CLEARS SENATE
The government should then hold onto these bonds while interest rates remain elevated and sell them when rates decline. It is important to note that this program wont provide free money as Treasury, Fannie and Freddie are already in the business of buying mortgage backed securities. Any program would have clear limits on its size, funding costs, prepayment risk, and taxpayer exposure.
Next, Congress should expand the use of existing tax-exempt mortgage financing. This isnt some untested financial innovation. State housing finance agencies have been issuing tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds for decades. Since investors generally accept lower yields when interest is exempt from federal income tax, eligible borrowers can benefit from lower mortgage rates.
Congress already has bipar
