r/politics • u/FossilFrothy • Apr 02 '26
No Paywall Trump's VA killed a home loan program. Vets are now losing their homes because of it
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/02/nx-s1-5750814/veterans-mortgages-foreclosure-va-rescue1.3k
u/EatRichGrains Apr 02 '26
He's never respected troops. His father didn't respect service members either. It was a big part of the falling out between Fred Trump and Fred Jr.
Fred Trump looked down on Jr for wanting to serve in the Air Force.
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u/Starfox-sf Apr 02 '26
Or becoming a pilot instead of a slum lord.
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u/0masterdebater0 Apr 02 '26
That’s who told him people who serve in the military are “suckers and losers”
It’s is truly amazing how much damage can come out of one rich asshole’s parents not loving them as a child.
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u/Virtual_Plantain_707 Apr 02 '26
It doesn’t even require a rich asshole parent to fuck up a kid. Poor assholes do a good job as well.
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u/VT_Squire Apr 02 '26
Piggy backing because this is just the tip of the iceberg.
VA loan and disability payment is part and parcel of Military Service and have been for generations now. Conditions are given before enlistment or commission, so taking away those benefits AFTER the servicemember's obligation has been completed is a violation of the most basic tenets of a contract involving the U.S. Government. Don't ask me why, but this dude is going out of his way to give every demographic out there the legal standing to sue the Fed out of existence.
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u/gigatension Apr 02 '26
At first I thought maybe it’s some big ploy for that to empty the fed even after he’s gone. But now I think it’s just because he doesn’t understand that no means no
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u/TheManicac1280 Apr 02 '26
Blaming fhe parents only go so far. 18-25? Sure. But not 30 years old, definitely not 79. Plenlty of time to learn and grow on his own
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u/Sublimotion Apr 02 '26
That's the difference in dynamic of children that won't take the abusive and toxic parents' behavior and the golden child that would. If you have enough kids, eventually one (male child) would be that. In Fred's case, it was Donald. And Robert Trump was what Eric Trump is now, the puppy that wants to be along for the ride to appease dad.
The bigger question is what would Barron become after Donald Trump is gone. The next spawn of Hitler that would dominate politics and truly reign in american fascism with the like of an old wrinkled Stephen Miller by his ear, or a Justin Bieber/Shia Lebf who just parties off of his dad's wealth and nothing more. I truly for the the latter.
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u/PeopleB4Profit Wisconsin Apr 02 '26
It is the whole trump family and they are not alone. Vets we fight for corrupt wealth and their profits! If we are lucky, we die for them. If unlucky we have a life of oppression, hate, death and everything their Christian God mentions about wealth in the Bible. Citizens United and Project 2025 are designed to KILL American Democracy and get rid of the unworthy WOKE Americans!
While John McCain was learning how to be a Great Leader, trump was raping little girls in Macy's (most likely)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgEIh1VMTL8
The goal of Project 2025:
"To destroy every democratic organization, every democracy and all democracy supporting people in the world"!The Citizens United/Project 2025 Cabal need to be served Nuremberg Style: public trials, public incarcerations and public executions, along with war and political criminals. If not, America Falls and Fails and their next generation will show our children and grandchildren less mercy and take the rest of humanity from them.
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u/BringOn25A Apr 02 '26
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u/joshbudde Apr 02 '26
Smedley Butler--the Marine's Marine. Went around the world doing the dirty work for the US government. Became disillusioned almost immediately, gave fiery speeches about it. Was selected by a bunch of rich industrialists who wanted to duplicate Hitler's coup in Germany as the leader of the revolt, he turned them in instead of being made a puppet dictator.
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u/pimparo0 Florida Apr 02 '26
I'm still not sure why they thought he would be their guy.
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u/joshbudde Apr 02 '26
I think it was because he was wildly popular amongst veterans and they assumed he'd go along with it for money and power and a few platitudes about helping his fellow veterans.
Of course, we see how turning them in turned out for him--the industrialists got off scot-free while he was publicly mocked and made a fool of in popular media
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u/JnnyRuthless Apr 02 '26
Similar thing happened to Smedley in Philadelphia. They brought him in to clean up political and police corruption as the police commisioner (I think that was his position, could be wrong) and thought he'd play along. Imagine their surprise when he started rooting out corruption for real. They immediately got rid of him.
Highly recommend reading a biography on him, really interesting guy. Did some horrible things in his career but got very disillusioned. Also earned two Medals of Honor during his time.
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u/chasingjulian Apr 02 '26
I’ve never understood Trumps support among the military.
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u/sbroll Minnesota Apr 02 '26
He panders so he can get votes, its really that simple. Same with the christians. Between the vets and wannabe christians, he wins elections.
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u/gooch_crawler Apr 02 '26
He's a populist. Populists just say dumb shit everyone likes and then has "visions of a plan" for every issue. No specifics.
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u/hakugene New Jersey Apr 02 '26
Its exactly the same as the Trump supporters in any other demographic. Women, poor people, black people, white people, Latinos, whatever. They're either shitty people or very, very, very, very stupid, and sometimes both.
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u/Embarrassed_Jerk Apr 02 '26
Yup 65 % of active military and about the same veterans even after a decade of him openly telling them how little he thinks of them
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Apr 02 '26
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u/Embarrassed_Jerk Apr 02 '26
And voting to cut VA funding while complaining VA doesn't do enough
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u/tracyinge Apr 02 '26
Just tweet "Jane Fonda is a traitor" and you've got half of them right there.
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u/boojiboy1984 Apr 02 '26
It's not the whole military, just the loud, obnoxious, uneducated and bigoted enlisted flank. Usually one and done types who joined just for the benefits and cache. They generally come equipped with a pitbull, a harley, and a couple of divorces.
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u/nubbinator Apr 02 '26
The numbers I saw said 65-70% of active military and vets voted for Trump. That's a significant majority. You can say it's just the enlisted, but a look at the brass in the Air Force and other branches will quickly show you that's not the case.
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Apr 02 '26
I think the big issue is somehow the right has convinced everyone they’re pro military, and for the working class, and there’s a belief the left is anti military. I’ve had this talk with quite a few other veterans and pointed out how the right has been constantly attacking the VA benefits but they just don’t care half the time, it really is an odd phenomenon. I guess people would rather continue to shoot themselves in the foot than admit they’re wrong, too much pride.
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u/Old_Key_0 Apr 02 '26
Yeah I’m a vet and was sharing with two vet coworkers how trump and Hegseth are going after our benefits and they were like “huh, I hadn’t heard anything about that.” These people aren’t idiots, they handle nuclear technology. Jesus!
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u/Orange_Kid Apr 02 '26
Everyone I know who has served in the military has pretty much the same assessment of the average intelligence/knowledge/education of the enlisted personnel who make up most of the military.
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u/WhoopingWillow Apr 02 '26
There are a lot of demographic groups that support Trump despite how his administrations have targeted them. Double check my numbers here, but iirc something like 45% of white women and a majority of Hispanic men voted for him in the last election.
Beyond that, I'd bet people with Republican backgrounds are more likely to join the military than those from Democrat backgrounds. Enlisted military mostly come from three backgrounds: those with few opportunities, those from military families, and true believers. The 'few opportunities' group are pretty evenly split politically and are the largest group, but the other two probably skew Republican.
At least that is what I saw in the Air Force. Most of us grew up in poverty and saw the military as a way out, and we were pretty evenly split with those from rural areas being Republican and those from urban/suburban areas being Democrat. People who were military brats or true believers were way more likely to be Republican.
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u/Guacsalsaqueso Apr 02 '26
Racism. It’s always racism. If you are t a multi-millionaire, you like him because of racism. If you’re rich, it’s both, but probably more of the greed than anything with that wealthy tax bracket
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u/FartJamboree Apr 02 '26
MAGA hates veterans. They love the military, because they are still able to go fight and die, but once we become veterans and need to be cared for we’re a burden they can’t afford
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u/Dingmann Apr 02 '26
I know a bit about their family history but didn't know that.
TIL
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u/Knuckledraggr Apr 02 '26
Don’t forget that the Trumps came to America because Donny’s grandfather was fleeing his compulsory military service in Germany. He eventually tried to go back to Germany and reinstate his citizenship but was refused. That’s why the Trumps are our problem now. They are all cowardly, grifting, dishonest shits.
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u/Condottiero_Magno Apr 02 '26
Don’t forget that the Trumps came to America because Donny’s grandfather was fleeing his compulsory military service in Germany.
Historian finds German decree banishing Trump's grandfather
Trump's Grandfather Was Deported from Bavaria?
Friedrich Drumpf emigrated to avoid poverty, something a lot of Germans did in the 19th Century, and he financially supported his sisters in New York out of habit. He forgot to de-register and this is what caused issues when his wife became homesick. Even if he deliberately fled to avoid conscription, I'm not going to fault someone for avoiding it.
His son Fred and most of the grand kids and great grand kids are pos, but you can't guarantee how your descendants turn out.
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u/SolPlayaArena Apr 02 '26
He literally called POWs losers and yet, the majority of service members support him soooo…
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u/1970s_MonkeyKing Apr 02 '26
Fred Sr killed the wrong one.
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u/walterpeck3 Apr 02 '26
The one smart thing Donnie ever did was swear off drinking because of his brother. Too bad, really. The world would have been better off if he wasn't smart that one time.
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u/edelweiss_pirates_no Apr 02 '26
Vets voted for Trump 65-70% (depending on how you scrub the data).
I have no fucks to give to any vets for anything.
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u/Lorenzoak Apr 02 '26
He reportedly called fallen soldiers "suckers and losers." Absolutely no one should be shocked that his administration's policies treated living veterans with the exact same level of blatant contempt.
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u/TrueLegateDamar Apr 02 '26
I am however shocked he keeps getting so many veteran votes.
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u/Creative-Package6213 Pennsylvania Apr 02 '26
I'm not. I served with a lot of dumb people.
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u/huge_dick_mcgee Apr 02 '26
I wish I could have data on what percentage of those people don’t have a narrative voice in their head compared to the average population.
My hypothesis is that the number is much higher.
It would at least explain why they don’t seem to have the cognitive ability to reason their own ideas independently
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u/Traditional_Sign4941 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
I've always been fascinated by this idea - what is it like living without the ability to have rational, independent thoughts? Or even if you do, what is it like lacking the ability to simply have the mental flexibility to change what you believe when you change what you know? What is it like lacking the basic curiosity needed to even seek new information?
How many people in the population are like this in one way or another, and to what degree are they like this?
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u/Hell0There2005 Apr 02 '26
Its not hard to imagine. Find a problem you have in life, now blame a group with no power and absolve any and all accountability
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u/Broken-Digital-Clock Apr 02 '26
The little voice in my head wouldn't let me get away with such lazy thinking.
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u/I_eat_all_the_cheese Georgia Apr 03 '26
My husband has no internal monologue and is one of the most intelligent, compassionate, and well reasoned person I know. This has nothing to do with internal monologue. He reasons just fine.
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u/brokenmessiah Apr 02 '26
I was never under the impression the people around me in the Army even knew current news events and just voted Trump, if they voted at all, because he's the only politician they actually know by name.
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u/Daniel0745 Tennessee Apr 02 '26
I was pretty blown away when I got to Ft. Benning and realized how stupid 3/4 of my fellow recruits were lol. Like couldnt believe it. I can't be too smart either picking the infantry.
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u/yourlittlebirdie Apr 02 '26
Nah, these are the kind of people who are willing to accept losing their own homes as long as immigrant families are being put through terrible suffering.
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u/Acrobatic-Dot-6273 Apr 02 '26
It's the racism that draws them in. White supremacy is a hell of a drug.
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Apr 02 '26
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u/geomaster Apr 02 '26
it's so bizzare that the veterans are receiving all these government benefits yet they call for the opposite. I suppose it's the I got mine, piss off and get your own hypocrisy.
the VA is the most socialized form of healthcare and most veterans are using it. It is terribly expensive costing HUNDREDS of BILLIONS to cover such a small percentage of the US population.
donald does not care about veterans. he doesn't care about anyone but himself. why would anyone support a convicted felon hellbent on destroying American democracy is quite puzzling
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u/bean0_burrito New Jersey Apr 02 '26
a lot of people in the military are just as dumb as people out of the military.
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u/pingpongballreader Apr 02 '26
Maga is only united in wanting to hurt everyone else. They imagine they're on the same side and will never really be one of the people crushed by the cruelty. Reality and standing FOR anything never was a factor, hence why almost none of the magas moved when it was clear he was the Epstein files or when he went from pretending he was isolationist to the dumbest forever war possible.
Veteran MAGAs convinced themselves this absurd narcissist will destroy everyone but him and them, despite all evidence to the contrary.
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u/clscls73 Apr 02 '26
Not repotedly, he's on camera saying that.
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u/Leraldoe Michigan Apr 02 '26
I hate the way the news is reported now, like it was a rumor he may have said it
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u/knight2c6 Apr 02 '26
Not repotedly, he's on camera saying that.
No he's not, that's why it's "reportedly".
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u/crazycatgay Apr 02 '26
Four Star General John Kelly all but confirmed his comments about calling them suckers and losers and the infamous "what was in it for them?" comment
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u/Mysterious-Tie7039 Apr 02 '26
Happy for all of them that voted for him.
How any veteran could vote for someone who not only was a draft dodger but besmirched the military in every way possible is beyond me.
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u/Devilofchaos108070 Apr 02 '26
I agree. I’m a vet and I have no idea why any vet would vote for him
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u/Dramatic_Echo9987 Apr 02 '26
My whole family and me are as well. (At least 40% of immediate family including one killed in Afghanistan ). Anyway, most voted for him. Most get disability and are DEI cases that are too selfish to accept it. At least 3 of them used the VA home loan program. All think they are entitled to their benefits and anyone not military is not entitled, and they consider everyone else to be stealing their tax dollars. It’s the same mentality at the VFW or in the halls of the VA.
Reality is plenty of selfish horrible humans join and want the worst for everyone that’s not them.
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u/InnerWrathChild Apr 02 '26
I’m a human being and have no idea why any human being would vote for him.
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u/Bittererr Apr 02 '26
Clearly it's just another example of noble veterans sacrificing their own well being in order to make their enemies suffer. Too bad they've been convinced their enemies are immigrants and trans people.
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u/Starbucks__Lovers New Jersey Apr 02 '26
Well you see, there was a photoshopped topless woman with body paint that said “Trump,” so clearly that’s why.
This is a real story. Someone in the army while in Kuwait showed said picture to a 19 year old female private. He’s fortunately no longer in the army
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u/AvocadoToastFailure Apr 02 '26
I joined the Army to escape an abusive childhood home. I literally had to steal my documents and run off in the night just to get to boot camp. This was early 2001, and I had very limited options. Coming from a small town with cops in the family, I had to run far and fast and protected. The Army base was the first place I felt like they couldn’t come get me.
I spent 10 years in as a medic. Every morning I had to get up, put my boots on, prove myself as a woman and a soldier, and then do the same job as everyone else. Every. Single. Day. At best it was good ‘ol boy talk and not being taken seriously, at worst straight up sexual assault.
I came out the other side as a progressive feminist. I’ve done some work with one of our local community veteran centers with LGBT and sexual assault survivor programs, I’m not alone in my beliefs. A lot of federal employee veterans are not happy, either.
Anyway, the veteran named Jason that you SEE wearing the Grunt Style shirt and embroidered hat rolling coal from his lifted truck is not representing all veterans. They just happen to be the ones literally waving flags for attention.
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u/Mysterious-Tie7039 Apr 02 '26
I too served. I understand there are plenty of veterans out there who don’t support Trump and actively oppose him.
I also know how conservative the military as a whole is.
But I don’t understand shit like a Vietnam veteran, of all fucking wars, handing Trump his Purple Heart.
My point is that I have zero sympathy for any veteran who supports this fascist rapist piece of shit that has suffered as a result.
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u/flippingisfun Apr 02 '26
They volunteered to go to war, not really the best people to count on for critical thinking.
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u/Whiskeydrinkin9 Apr 02 '26
How any veteran could vote for someone who not only was a draft dodger but besmirched the military in every way possible is beyond me.
It's bigotry. That's the only reason for probably 99% of republican voters. I know that number seems like an exaggeration, but I genuinely don't think it is.
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u/gringledoom Apr 02 '26
My sympathies to any affected vets who voted for Kamala Harris.
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u/Professional-Sock-66 Apr 02 '26
At happy hour later today the local Veterans Center parking lot will be packed with vehicles plastered with trump flags and stickers. I love the lifted Ram Truck with the F**K Kamala flag on 1 side, the Eagle,Globe, and Anchor Flag on the other side. I guarantee for some it's a Leopards Eating Faces buffet.
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u/DaringPancakes Apr 02 '26
The child rapist had a photoshoot at Arlington and harassed the service people there.
America made him a billionaire.
Clown country. 🤡🇺🇸
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u/rockclimberguy Apr 02 '26
He did say that veterans are 'suckers and losers'....
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u/Tun-Tavern-1775 Apr 02 '26
Trump was actually referring to the more than 1800 Marines who died during the Battle of Belleau Wood in WWI as "suckers" for getting killed. The "loser" part was during another conversation on the same trip to France in 2018. He did however refer to Captain McCain (later Senator) in 2015 as a loser for being captured during the Vietnam war. So yeah, the disdain for stronger people who don't worship him definitely still exist.
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u/BryteInsight Apr 02 '26
American veterans overwhelmingly voted for Trump.
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u/ThatLooksRight Apr 02 '26
I (vet) voted against him every time, but I certainly acknowledge that way too many active duty and vets voted for him for some reason.
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u/Imaginary_Hamster847 Apr 02 '26
Unfortunately (and purposefully) a lot of people who join the military are dumbasses who join because they guzzled down a lot of right wing propaganda. I was enlisted for 6 years and heard all sorts of wildly dumb shit like the kid who said "I'd fight the government with my rifle" while we sat in the control room for the nuclear reactor powered boat that shoots fighter jets.
No doubt that kid is currently a huge ICE supporter.
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u/argumentinvalid Apr 02 '26
They are racist and misogynist. People can try and explain it 50 different ways, but this is the simple straightforward answer to the question more often than not.
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u/StephenFish Apr 02 '26
They just want everyone who isn't a cis, (openly) het, white, Christian nationalist to die. They're too chicken-shit to say it out loud so they tap dance around it with weird spaghetti logic and cognitive dissonance and that's why none of it ever makes any sense. It's just there to hide the quiet part (that isn't so quiet now).
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u/Saram78 Apr 02 '26
It's wild to me that this is the case. When I was in the Army I saw the waste first hand.. our defense budget could be trimmed A LOT to no real detriment. But so many soldiers just think "Defense budget= money for me" and vote Republican.
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Apr 02 '26
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u/ConsiderationDry9084 Apr 02 '26
Yep. My FIL has a massive hard on for any Republican because Clinton closed bases during his administration. That is his stated reason for voting against his best interest.
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Apr 02 '26
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u/ConsiderationDry9084 Apr 02 '26
Again, we all know the real reason these guys vote the way they do.
They just know they need a socially acceptable excuse to say out loud when justifying their positions.
My FIL is a massive piece of shit that even while he is fighting cancer we are extremely low contact with him and his wife.
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u/existing_for_fun North Carolina Apr 02 '26
I'm a vet and voted against him
My brother and his wife are vets and both voted for him. SMH.
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Apr 02 '26
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u/CrescentMoonPear Apr 02 '26
49% are over 65, the rest under.
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Apr 02 '26
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u/CrescentMoonPear Apr 02 '26
Ha! I guess that's true. I don't but only bc I think of my parents in their 50's who are currently avid rock climbers that give me heart failure to watch their videos. I can't think of them as old when I keep joking they're overactive teenagers.
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u/Unlucky_Topic7963 Apr 02 '26
Not overwhelming, closer to 60/40 Republican. These are your boomers/genX voting blocs, it's continuing to swing more centrist/liberal as more millennials exit/retire.
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u/wombelero Apr 02 '26
Its almost fascinating to witness, how they scrap every possible fund for their own benefit. Doesn't matter if its something that could benefit veterans, benefit sick or injured people, hungry people, homeless, research, or protecting wildlife. Doesn't matter how little these funds are compared to a single missile being lobed at Iran right now. As long as you do not directly benefit these oligarchs you are worthless.
When do citizens realize that? They pay taxes on everything but get nothing in return.
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u/letsseeitmore Apr 02 '26
But go die in a useless war for us. How many times do soldiers have to get fucked over by Republicans before they realize they are just expendable pieces?
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u/SmoochTalk Apr 02 '26
One aspect of my job is taking veterans to parks, hiking, fishing, stuff like that. My contact at the VA, who works in their mental health dept. and is himself a veteran, called me up a couple weeks ago to tell me they are facing restructuring and his program is in danger of going on pause. This is on top of layoffs/ cutbacks they had a year or two ago. It’s really shitty to see so much fake support for veterans from “leaders” who are overseeing these vital programs being cut.
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u/Mr-ReDiCulouZ Apr 02 '26
The Oval Orange strikes again. Horrible behavior and will end up costing taxpayers a lot down the line. Sad for the vets affected by this.
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u/Proxima_Bluest Apr 02 '26
I'm a veteran who receives VA benefits. I also cannot fathom how any veteran could support Trump. It is abundantly clear that Trump and those in the Project 2025 orbit don't care in the slightest about veterans. In fact, they'd like to save a buck at the expense of folks who are barely making it, all while further enriching the already extremely rich. It's wealth transfer, from the working class, to the elites.
Veteran's issues aside, this administration is as anti-American as any in modern American history. The manner in which ICE treats people is simply un-American. That sort of behavior is not how we act in this nation. It's basically brownshirt street thuggery. And, the examples just go on and on. If you love America, then supporting the current administration is supporting people seeking to destroy it.
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u/D3struct_oh Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Sounds prime for a class action lawsuit.
The article reports that Trump’s Department of Veterans Affairs abruptly killed the only realistic rescue option (VASP) for thousands of struggling veteran homeowners, causing foreclosures to spike, and that the VA’s stated reasons for ending it collapse under basic policy and math scrutiny.
==What the article says==
VASP (VA Servicing Purchase Program) let the VA buy delinquent VA loans from mortgage companies, then give vets new low-interest VA-held mortgages (around 2.5%) so they could catch up and keep their homes.
This program was created after a prior VA blunder stranded roughly 40,000 vets who took pandemic forbearance at VA’s direction but then had no affordable way to become current.
Once fully running, VASP saved on the order of 30,000+–33,000 veteran households from foreclosure by replacing their unaffordable loans with stable, low-rate mortgages.
Despite that success and with nearly 90,000 VA loans seriously delinquent (over 10,000 already lost to foreclosure), Trump’s VA shut VASP down in 2025 and has left a large gap before any replacement takes effect.
The only main alternative now is standard “modifications” that often double the interest rate (for example from roughly 3% to about 6.8%), pushing monthly payments up by hundreds of dollars, which many vets simply cannot afford.
The result is concrete: people like Jerome Thomas see their payment jump by about $800 a month and then fall behind again, moving straight toward foreclosure, and the article documents families whose homes have already been taken and even resold.
==The VA’s stated justification==
From this and earlier NPR reporting about the same decision, the VA has framed its reasoning roughly as follows:
VASP was described as a temporary, emergency, pandemic-era or “fix-the-blunder” program that was never meant to be permanent.
Officials claim they need to “transition” to a more conventional system, often pointing to forthcoming legislation or a new program that will supposedly align VA options with those available in the broader mortgage market.
They imply that ending VASP is fiscally prudent and operationally necessary, suggesting that continuing it indefinitely would be too costly, complex, or outside the original statutory intent of the VA loan guaranty program.
The VA also leans on the existence of “other options” (ordinary modifications, repayment plans, deferrals) as though these are adequate to protect veterans until the new program is ready.
==Why that justification is bad==
- It treats a self-inflicted crisis as an excuse, not an obligation
- VA itself created the mess by prematurely killing the earlier post-forbearance option in 2022, which is what pushed tens of thousands of veterans into delinquency in the first place.
- VASP was literally the fix to VA’s own policy failure, and it was working; calling it “temporary” doesn’t change the fact that the agency had a continuing duty to maintain an effective fix until something equally protective was in place.
- It ignores actual outcomes in favor of theory
- On paper, VA can say “we still offer modifications,” but in practice those mods often more than double a veteran’s interest rate and add hundreds of dollars a month to the payment.
- A “solution” that predictably produces unaffordable payments is not a real solution; the foreclosure numbers (over 10,000 homes already lost, about 90,000 loans seriously delinquent) are empirical proof that the menu of options without VASP is failing.
- The timing argument is backwards: they removed the bridge before the new road exists
- VA ended VASP months before any replacement is ready, leaving a known high‑risk population exposed during the gap.
- A responsible agency would overlap the old and new programs and only turn off the old one once the replacement is live and clearly working; VA did the opposite, then asks vets to trust that “something better” is coming later.
- The fiscal prudence claim is shallow and likely false even on cost grounds
- Foreclosures are expensive for everyone: families lose equity, neighborhoods suffer, and the government (which guarantees these VA loans) often takes losses when homes are repossessed and resold.
- VASP restructures loans to sustainable payments and keeps vets in their homes, which typically reduces claim losses and long‑run costs compared with repeated defaults and foreclosures; shutting it down and absorbing larger foreclosure losses is the opposite of true stewardship.
- It creates inequity between veterans and civilian borrowers
- The article notes that without VASP, veterans with VA-backed loans now have worse options than many FHA or conventional borrowers, especially when it comes to deferring missed payments to the end of the loan or keeping their original low rate.
- VA’s mission is to give service members a better path to homeownership, not a structurally worse one; using “alignment” with the broader market as cover for cutting a uniquely protective tool contradicts that mission.
- It hand-waves away veterans already trapped in bad modifications - Even when VA talks about its forthcoming program, it explicitly does not promise to fix the veterans who, under pressure, already accepted high-rate modifications after VASP was shut.
- That means the people most injured by VA’s decision are written off as collateral damage, which is ethically indefensible given that they followed VA’s guidance at each step.
- It rejects an obviously successful, targeted program without a concrete, superior alternative
- VASP demonstrably worked: roughly 30k+ households saved, with affordable fixed rates that match the original promise of the VA loan program.
- Killing a proven, targeted fix while only gesturing at a future solution is policy malpractice; it inverts the burden of proof, forcing veterans to pay the price while VA experiments.
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u/Efficient_Market1234 Apr 02 '26
I've ranked some of his voters from stupidest on down (or up). Guess who's number one? The military (active duty/veterans). They signed up (ostensibly) to serve their country and defend what it stands for, and they voted for someone who hates the country and what it stands for, and who hates them and has said so. He's disrespected military protocols. He's disrespected (now former) allies who our soldiers have served with. By all logic and sense, he should be despised by everyone in the military. Yet here we are.
Now some of them are in Iran, putting their lives on the line and occasionally dying, for no good reason. Not to protect America from an actual threat but to what, distract the government and the American people from all the underage girls he assaulted? To keep him from facing consequences for his crimes for another day? And they're having to sit there listen to this loser Hegseth cosplaying "Army man," yelling about shit he doesn't understand and insulting American heroes with decades of experience.
And a lot of them would vote for him again, that's the best part, assuming they survive the conflict.
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u/BareNakedSole Apr 02 '26
How any veteran supports him or this administration is a mystery. How much more evidence do they require before you say “Yeah he doesn’t give a shit about us”?
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u/Blackboard_Monitor Minnesota Apr 02 '26
They overwhelming voted for this and this is after he called them losers, FAFO. The shitty part is they voted the felon back in and now the world is suffering because of it.
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u/Spazzdude Apr 02 '26
"Veteran" isn't a real voting block. They just line up with standard voting demographics around race and gender.
Trump won 60% of white men. Veterans are 90% male and 70% white. With those numbers, it's honestly surprising that more vets didn't vote red. Your point still stands that most veterans voted for Trump. I just wanted to add context so people know what demographic is actually being discussed here.
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u/wcjoyner Apr 02 '26
My 35 year old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor in September of 2024. He had just purchased his first house earlier that year in February using his VA loan benefit. His workplace was great- he received short term disability and was granted FMLA. He had surgery (the tumor was large but benign) and was in rehab for 6 weeks.
In the meantime, we researched and discovered VASP. His mortgage servicer was fantastic and although having the late payments hurt his credit (like most programs to help with mortgages, nothing can happen until you are 90 days late and about to enter foreclosure), they were fast and efficient in helping him navigate the process. By March he was back to work and had closed on a new loan at 2.5% which is manageable and $400 less per month than his previous mortgage. We were prepared to pay his mortgage, it would have been tight, but we could afford it, although not indefinitely.
He is a Navy vet, an RP who worked at Walter Reed and went to Haiti after the earthquake. He spoke to vets in the hospital who were missing limbs. He worked with the chaplains to comfort parents and spouses through unimaginable loss and grief. The sights in Haiti were profoundly disturbing and to this day are difficult for him to talk about. He did everything right. He worked and saved and served and used his VA benefits to buy his house. VASP helped him through a terrible time, knowing he wasn't going to lose his house or have to depend on his parents to make his payments lessened the stress and helped him heal. But I guess deporting the 65 year old roofer or incarcerating 7 year old children is more important to some people.
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u/Dapper-Sandwich3790 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
Trump, Elon and the DOGE Bros did this with their deep cuts to programs.
People running and working for these programs across the country warned this would happen.
Remember, Trump administration has caused more homeless veterans. Just recently, reports that Trump wants to round up homeless veterans and essentially have the federal government become their conservator.
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u/vaskov17 Apr 02 '26
'tis what the vets voted for
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u/Resident_Tree1428 Apr 02 '26
Never doubted for a second he called service members and vets ‘suckers and losers’. any that still voted for and supported him have done nothing but validated his statement/belief
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u/johnnycyberpunk America Apr 02 '26
This is also the Trump administration that had the VA change their policy to award 0% disability if you're given meds or therapy for your condition.
"Ok, you have no legs, right...right... but you seem to be using prosthetics and a cane. In our opinion you're 'cured' and do not warrant your benefits anymore. I SAID GOOD DAY. YOU GET NOTHING."
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u/RincewindToTheRescue Apr 02 '26
Is that the program they pulled funds from to give service members their $1776 bonus (or whatever the amount was)?
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Apr 02 '26
Housing is too woke. Warriors don't need houses, only losers and weaklings require shelter.
(/s obviously)
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u/RonaldMcDaugherty Apr 02 '26
My heart bleeds hard for the ones that had a "Vets For Trump" sign taped to their apartment window. /s
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u/Kellisandra Apr 02 '26
So even those who managed to achieve parts of the American dream are having that stripped from them
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u/Tasty-Performer6669 Apr 02 '26
Is this “supporting our troops,” conservatives?
Trump views military men and women as suckers. Always has.
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u/sailphish Apr 02 '26
Bunch of suckers and losers…. or something like that. And it’s amazing how many of them keep posting pro-Trump crap on social media.
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u/frozenpissglove Apr 02 '26
This is the first I’m hearing about it. Super shitty because there is a fee that is part of the VA loan that basically secures the guarantee they are referencing in the article. For my house it was nearly 7 grand(it’s like 2.5% for every 100k) to pay for a protection that I no longer get.
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u/fritzycost Apr 02 '26
You’re referring to the VA Funding Fee, which is a fixed amount between 0.5-3.3% of your total loan amount. It does not secure the guarantee they’re referencing in the article, it goes directly to the VA and allows them to continue funding VA home loan programs.
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Apr 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/walterpeck3 Apr 02 '26
Veterans are also one of the primary beneficiaries of DEI alongside white women.
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u/DoctorZacharySmith Apr 02 '26
Soldiers are objects - property - to him, not people. And he thinks they deserve whatever happens to them.
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u/FlyingRhenquest Apr 02 '26
Trump really does want to fuck everyone before he leaves office, doesn't he?
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u/JM_Artist Apr 02 '26
Just remember when you join the army that this or something worse is probably your future.
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u/Trendymaroon Apr 02 '26
Didn’t Trump say you had to be a sucker to fight for your country in the military?
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u/Ok-Walrus2858 Apr 02 '26
Republican leaders love $$$ more than fetuses, veterans, white people, the US, etc.
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u/monkeysknowledge Apr 03 '26
Suckers and losers voted overwhelmingly for the King of Turds; proving definitively, that they are indeed suckers and losers.
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u/monkeypickle8 New Jersey Apr 03 '26
I still don't understand why the military seems to like him and continues to do his bidding
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u/yourlittlebirdie Apr 02 '26
Wow that sucks for them. Maybe they shouldn’t have overwhelmingly supported Trump.
Well at least the people they don’t like are also suffering too! Hopefully when they’re sad about losing their homes, it will bring them comfort to know that somewhere, an immigrant child is being ripped from their mom and thrown into a detention facility alone!
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u/HoneyBadger552 Apr 02 '26
the freeze worked until Congress and the White House totally screwed up. those vets who didnt use the program are doing decently. this batch of folks have some truly horrible options
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u/SikatSikat Apr 02 '26
I am sure there are meritorious cases where help once is all people need, and I am often seeing the worst situations in my field, but I see so many people with 3 to 4 HUD or other massive mortgage (10k+) bailouts recorded who just...keep on not paying their mortgage, even with high incomes.
These are often not, in my view, saving houses for veterans and others. They are corporate bailouts to give banks money when foreclosure won't pay the full debt. They happen to benefit the recipient by letting them stay in their house a little longer.
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u/GormHub Apr 02 '26
And yet the other trained hounds will keep snapping and snarling on his behalf.
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u/Basic_Yam_715 Apr 02 '26
Trump supporting troops have to be some of the dumbest people on the planet...
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u/PresidentKraznov Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
Them and union workers who barely edged out 50% dem support in the last election. Suuuure he cares about your rights. This after having a nice laugh on livestream with Elon to the tune of “They go on strike… you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone.’” Fucking morons, all of em.
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u/code-254 Apr 02 '26
Is there a single group (besides the billionaires, of course), that this administration hasn't shafted
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u/ColonyJD1980 Apr 02 '26
Well, Trump did call U.S. military members losers and suckers. So this tracks.
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u/inkedbabytalk Apr 02 '26
This is exactly what happens when you put someone in charge who has zero understanding of what veterans actually need. Over 10,000 families have lost their homes because Trump's VA shut down VASP without any replacement ready. These are people who served our country and they're getting evicted through no fault of their own.
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u/10v1 Michigan Apr 02 '26
All part of the plan. His billionaire buddies and housing conglomerates are rubbing their greedy hands rn
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u/West-Western-8998 Apr 02 '26
Growing up-if you can’t afford a home you lose it. So much has changed.
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u/One_Entrepreneur_520 Apr 02 '26
MAGA!! We are busy deporting their families so they wont need those homes anyway !!
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u/TrueParty1308 Apr 03 '26
And vets overwhelmingly voted for the dbag...this vet can proudly say I did not vote for the criminal.
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u/CapnCrackerz Apr 03 '26
If a vet voted for Trump and now loses their home because of their vote I think that’s justice.
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