Bessent under fire for suggesting Americans purchased multiple homes ‘for retirement’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent faced backlash over a video clip in which he suggests that some retiring Americans have purchased “five, 10, 12 homes.”

Bessent spoke with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo at the World Economic Forum Tuesday when he discussed President Donald Trump’s ban on large institutional investors buying single-family homes. He said that the ban doesn’t apply to individual buyers.

“So the ban on institutional investors and single-family homes — for those of who are not American — in the U.S., pre-financial crisis, institutional investors did not participate in the single-family market,” Bessent said. “Post the financial crisis, institutional investors Hoovered up single-family homes. They continue to do it.”

“So we think that it is a good idea to have them out of the