The Trump administration plans to introduce new measures to address the high cost of housing in the coming weeks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters and the Washington Examiner in separate interviews on Monday.

Bessent described housing costs as an “all-hands-on-deck” challenge. He also told Reuters that rents were now dropping and that he is expecting an increase in real estate transactions and home sales once interest rates begin to decline.

In a separate Labor Day interview with the Washington Examiner, Bessent said that President Trump may declare a national housing emergency this fall in response to soaring prices and limited supply.

Bessent did not specify actions Trump may take beyond possibly declaring a national emergency, but he “suggested that administration officials are directly studying ways to standardize local building and zoning codes and decrease closing costs.”

In the limited interview, which is expected to run as a full interview on Tuesday, Bessent alluded to Trump considering some tariff exemptions for certain construction materials.

“We’re trying to figure out what we can do, and we don’t want to step into the business of states, counties, and municipal governments,” he told the Examiner. “I think everything is on the table.”

Since taking office, Trump has invoked national emergency powers nine times, including an August “crime emergency” to confront crime rates in Washington, D.C.

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