WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump, under pressure to address voter affordability concerns ahead of congressional elections this year, has recently pushed a number of major policy proposals aimed at boosting home ownership and reining in living costs.
Several of the proposals align the Republican president with Democratic lawmakers who have pushed such ideas in the past.
Trump is expected this week at the Davos meeting of global business leaders to provide more details on how his administration hopes to implement the proposals, which could have major implications for financial firms and investors while doing little to lower living costs, economists have warned.
This is where the proposals stand:
CRACKING DOWN ON WALL STREET LANDLORDS
Earlier this month, Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that his administration was moving to ban Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes, in a bid to reduce home prices.
Wall Street investors owned about 3% of single-family rental homes in 2022, according to government data. Trump did not provide details on how he expected to implement the ban.
CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATE CAPS
Also via Truth Social, Trump this month proposed capping credit card interest rates at 10% for one year starting January 20, in a surprise move that blindsided lenders, according to industry sources, and sent financial stocks tumbling.
The administration has not said how it would impose a cap, which would have to be implemented by Congress, according to analysts who also noted previous bills aimed at capping credit card rates have never advanced.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt last week said Trump expected credit card companies to comply, even though banks have loudly opposed the proposal which they said will force them to reduce credit availability, hurting consumers.
Trump subsequently spoke with Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, about advancing legislative efforts she has pushed in the past to cap credit card rates and crack down on Wall Street landlords, Warren said.
Bloomberg subsequently reported on Friday that the administration is mulling an executive order to address credit card caps.
USING 401(K) PLANS FOR HOME DEPOSITS
Last week, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” program that the administration plans to allow retirement savers to use their 401(k) funds to make a house down payment, adding more details would be released this week.
