Lambert quoted Pulte as saying: “I anticipate that the president will make a decision either this quarter or early next year as it relates to the IPO.”
The future of Fannie and Freddie has been a hot topic in President Trump’s second term as the two government sponsored enterprises spend their 17th year in conservatorship following the great financial crisis. Releasing them from that conservatorship is complicated, since they now backstop about 70% of all mortgage loans in the U.S., providing liquidity and stability in the market.
Privatizing Fannie and Freddie would take years, experts say, because it will require addressing their regulatory capital requirement shortfall, the status of Treasury’s senior preferred shares and the current implicit guarantee. Selling some shares while they remain in conservatorship would be an easier option.
In May, Trump said he was “giving serious consideration to bringing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public” and would make a decision in the “near future.” A week later he clarified that any change would keep the implicit guarantee intact.
In July, Trump met with CEOs of some of the country’s biggest banks, including JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs Group CEO David Solomon, and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, to one-on-one pitch meetings to discuss the future of the GSEs.
In August, the Trump administration said it planned an IPO for Fannie and Freddie later this year and believed it could raise roughly $30 billion from the initial stock offering. A few days later, Trump posted an AI image of him at the New York Stock Exchange with the words: MAGA LISTED NYSE and The Great American Mortgage Corporation, with a date of November 2025. The image fueled speculation about the FHFA merging Fannie and Freddie but the idea has gotten significant industry pushback.
