Trump Pitches Housing Affordability Plan from Billionaires' Alpine Playground

The Irony of Location

President Donald Trump plans to use a key address Wednesday to try to convince Americans he can make housing more affordable, but he's picked a strange backdrop for the speech: a Swiss mountain town where ski chalets for vacations cost a cool $4.4 million. On the anniversary of his inauguration, Trump is flying to the World Economic Forum in Davos — an annual gathering of the global elite — where he may see many of the billionaires he has surrounded himself with during his first year back in the White House.

The optics couldn't be more stark. While millions of Americans struggle with soaring housing costs, the president will deliver his affordability message surrounded by the world's wealthiest individuals in one of the planet's most expensive destinations. Trump had campaigned on lowering the cost of living, painting himself as a populist while serving fries at a McDonald's drive-thru. But in office, his public schedules suggest he's traded the Golden Arches for a gilded age, devoting more time to cavorting with the wealthy than talking directly to his working-class base.

Political Pressure Mounts

About six in 10 U.S. adults now say that Trump has hurt the cost of living, according to the latest survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It's an issue even among Republicans, who have said Trump's work on the economy hasn't lived up to their expectations. Only 16% say Trump has helped "a lot" on making things more affordable, down from 49% in April 2024, when an AP-NORC poll asked Americans the same question about his first term.

The president faces domestic pressure over affordability, and Trump wants to offset this by revealing "initiatives to drive down housing costs" and "tout his economic agenda that has propelled the United States to lead the world in economic growth," a White House official said. The White House has tried to shift Trump's focus to affordability issues, a response to warning signs in the polls in a year where control of Congress is at stake in midterm elections.

Proposed Solutions and Industry Response

In recent weeks, Trump has floated proposals like reducing interest rates on home loans by buying $200 billion in mortgage debt and banning large financial companies from buying homes. Trump is expected to unveil housing affordability proposals at Davos, including GSE MBS expansion and 401(k) down payment access. Additional affordability initiatives could include incentives for homebuilders focused on multifamily and entry-level single-family homes, regulatory easing by local governments to reduce construction costs and the use of public land to support lower-cost housing development.

MBA welcomes the Trump administration's focus on making homeownership and rental housing more affordable and attainable for more Americans. However, those efforts would do little to address the core problem in the housing market: a multi-year shortfall in home construction and home prices that have generally risen. Industry experts acknowledge the proposals represent a start but emphasize the need for comprehensive solutions addressing supply constraints.

Wealth Gap Widens

The choice of venue highlights a growing disconnect between Trump's inner circle and ordinary Americans. He's installed billionaires in his inner circle such as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (net worth: $3.3 billion) and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (net worth: $2 billion). He put Elon Musk (net worth: $780 billion) in charge of slashing government payrolls before a dramatic falling-out and, later, a public reconciliation. Since Trump's first term in 2017, the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans have seen their wealth increase by $11.98 trillion to $23.46 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. The magnitude of those gains dwarfs what the bottom 50% of households — the majority of the country — received during the same period. Their net worth rose by $2.94 trillion, roughly one-fourth what the top 0.1% got.

Whether Trump's housing proposals can bridge this growing divide remains uncertain. His challenge will be convincing skeptical voters that solutions crafted among Davos billionaires can address the kitchen-table concerns of working families back home. The success of his midterm electoral prospects may well depend on it.