An advertisement appearing to feature President Donald Trump promoting an "all new Fannie Mae" as the "protector of the American Dream" actually utilized an AI-cloned voice, according to a disclaimer in the video. The ad was reportedly created with permission from the Trump administration, reflecting broader efforts to address housing affordability—a topic Trump planned to discuss at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where global leaders and corporate executives gather.

AI-generated voices are not unprecedented in the Trump family. First Lady Melania Trump previously used AI firm ElevenLabs to produce the audio version of her memoir. However, ElevenLabs confirmed to The Associated Press that it did not generate Trump’s voice in the Fannie Mae ad. The creator of the cloned voice remains unidentified, and the White House has not commented.

In the one-minute ad, the digitized voice emphasizes that home ownership, once a symbol of security and independence, now feels unattainable for too many Americans. The ad places responsibility on a system that “has stopped working” rather than on individual effort.

Fannie Mae and its counterpart, Freddie Mac, have been under government conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis. Together, they guarantee roughly half of the $13 trillion U.S. home loan market, playing a critical role in ensuring liquidity and stability in the housing sector. The ad suggests that Fannie Mae will collaborate with banks to approve more potential homebuyers for mortgages.

Proposals from Trump and Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, have included selling shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on major stock exchanges and extending 30-year mortgages to 50 years to lower monthly payments. Critics warned that longer-term loans could reduce equity building, and Trump subsequently stepped back from the proposal.

Earlier, Trump also directed the federal government to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds, leveraging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s cash reserves to help reduce rates and improve accessibility for first-time buyers. Additionally, he proposed limiting large institutional investors from buying homes to make it easier for younger families to purchase property.

The use of an AI-cloned voice authorized by Trump presents a striking contrast with his past complaints regarding the Biden administration allegedly using an autopen to apply his signature without consent. An autopen mechanically replicates a person’s signature, but House Republicans’ reports found no concrete evidence that President Biden’s signature was applied without his knowledge.