Paramount stock rises after FCC approves Skydance merger
Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday evening that he was seriously considering taking federally controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (OTC:FMCC) public.
“I will be speaking with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, among others, and will be making a decision in the near future,” Trump said in a social media post.
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing very well, throwing off a lot of cash, and the time would seem to be right.”
Fannie and Freddie were created by Congress as for-profit corporations with the mission of growing the national home lending market by buying home loans from private lenders and converting them into mortgage-backed securities.
The two have been in federal conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis, although the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency had earlier in 2025 said they were looking at an eventual exit from federal control for the two.
Fannie Mae- formally known as the Federal National Mortgage Association (OTC:FNMA), and Freddie Mac– known as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation– are both government-sponsored enterprises, and had become illiquid during the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.
This prompted federal intervention, although the goal was to develop an operating structure to allow a return to self-management. Both companies were seen building their capital reserves for a return to self-management eventually, and have repaid their Treasury loans.
Government consideration over their privatization has been ongoing since Trump’s first term. Shares of both companies currently trade in over-the-counter markets, and it was unclear how Trump plans to bring the two public.