Trump says he will not sign landmark housing bill in protest

President Donald Trump has said he will not sign a bipartisan housing bill into law in protest over the US Senate's failure to pass voter ID legislation.

The housing bill, approved by Congress last month, is set to become law automatically at midnight on Friday, unless the president decides to veto it.

Experts have said the housing bill marks the most comprehensive action from Congress on lowering house costs for renters and homebuyers in the 21st Century.

Trump, who has repeatedly made false claims of widespread fraud altering the results of US elections, wants Republicans to prioritise the voter ID bill ahead of the November midterm elections.

On Friday, in a long Truth Social post, the president reiterated his demand.

"I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in protest over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing the Save America Act," Trump posted on social media.

"THE SAVE AMERICA ACT'S non-passage is CRAZY, and a serious threat to any politician who votes against it!"he wrote.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) requires Americans to provide ID and proof of citizenship to vote.

Trump has championed the measure, but Republicans, who control the House and the Senate by slim majorities, have said there is not enough support to get the measure over the finish line. Democrats say the SAVE legislation disenfranchises eligible voters.

In June, both chambers of Congress approved the housing bill - called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act - in a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, as Americans grow frustrated with skyrocketing housing costs.

Soon afterwards, Trump cancelled a ceremony to sign the bill and said he would not do so until the voter ID law was passed.

Legislation passed by Congress and sent to the president's desk automatically become law after 10 days if the president takes no action.

The housing bill aims to both reduce costs and increase housing supply, as Americans have faced housing shortages for years.

It includes more than 40 provisions, including making it easier to build new homes and limiting how many single-family homes institutional investors can buy nationwide.

The bill comes as the median price of existing homes hit an all-time high in June: $440,660 (£328,000), up 1.8% from $432,700 a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

A US family needs an income of about $117,000 a year to afford an average home on the market, according to the real estate brokerage Redfin, but that is nearly $30,000 more than what most US households earn, according to Census data.

Potential homebuyers also face high inflation and high interest rates, which have made homeownership even more out of reach for many Americans.

After Trump's post about not signing the bill on Friday, several Democrats attacked the move on social media.

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X that Republicans "would rather make it harder to vote than easier to afford a home".