Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged Tuesday on Newsmax that Americans are still straining under high prices but said the Trump administration is attacking the affordability crisis by driving down energy costs and mortgage rates while pushing for stronger wage growth.
Bessent told "Rob Schmitt Tonight" the country is still living with the fallout from the post-COVID inflation surge when prices jumped at the fastest pace in four decades.
Consumer prices rose 9.1% in the 12 months through June 2022, the highest reading since 1981, before easing to about 3% this fall, according to Labor Department data.
"The house got burned down. You've got to rebuild, starting with the foundation," Bessent said, arguing the administration "inherited a mess" and has since "brought inflation down."
He took aim at what he called a "media narrative" under former President Joe Biden that dismissed public anger over soaring prices as a mere "vibe session."
Bessent said the White House is pursuing two main tracks to restore affordability: lowering inflation and boosting real incomes. On prices, he pointed to falling energy and borrowing costs.
"Energy prices, gasoline, four-year low," Bessent said, noting that pump prices have dropped sharply from their 2022 record highs, when the national average topped $5 a gallon.
He also highlighted the recent slide in borrowing costs after mortgage rates spiked above 7% earlier this year.
"[On] Jan. 20, when the president came in, 30-year mortgage was 7.08[%], yesterday 6.22[%]. That's a huge move," he said, adding that getting rates "down to the fives" would give a major lift to homeownership.
Recent private surveys put the average 30-year fixed rate around the mid-6% range.
Bessent said the administration has "all-hands-on-deck meetings" on affordability and is open to creative ideas to unlock the frozen housing market. He said the idea of a "portable mortgage" — allowing homeowners to carry their existing rate to a new property — has worked well in Britain.
Consumer finance guides there note that most standard mortgages are technically portable, though transfers still require lender approval and aren't available on every product.
Bessent said portable mortgages could be a way to break the "logjam" of owners stuck in 3% loans who are reluctant to move.
"With President [Donald] Trump, everything is on the table because he is so interested in getting this affordability crisis fixed," he said, adding that the other key is renewed real income growth.
He pointed to Trump's first term, when he said hourly workers and the bottom 50% of households by net worth outpaced higher earners.
"There will be a point … that inflation will turn down and real wages will turn up," Bessent said.
"And when those lines cross, which I am confident that they will, then Americans are going to feel it."
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