Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell got into an awkward on-camera clash during the president’s tour of the Fed’s headquarters.
As President Donald Trump vowed to make Washington, D.C. “safer and more beautiful,” he also vowed to stop people from spending billions to fix up a building when there are other problems to solve, referring to the renovation of the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump announced he would be holding a press conference on crime and “beautification” in the Press Briefing Room of the White House on Monday morning. The event, he noted, will not only involve ending “Crime, Murder and Death” in the nation’s capital, but also will focus on “Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital.”
“We are not going to allow people to spend $3.1 Billion Dollars on fixing up a building, like the Federal Reserve, which could have been done in a far more elegant and time sensitive manner for $50 to $100 Million Dollars,” Trump wrote. “The Renovation would have actually been better, and would have saved $3 Billion Dollars, Traffic James and never-ending Construction.”
The comment was Trump’s latest public attack against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his leadership at the central bank, despite appointing him as the Federal Reserve chair in 2017.
FOUR KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM TRUMP’S VISIT TO THE FEDERAL RESERVE WITH POWELL
U.S. President Donald Trump points to a document as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell fact-checks the numbers on it during a tour of the Federal Reserve Board building, which is currently undergoing renovations, in Washington, D.C., July 24, 2025. (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo / Reuters)
In a tense moment in front of the media last month, Trump and Powell disagreed over the estimated cost of the renovation. Trump said the project had an estimated cost of $3.1 billion, to which Powell shook his head.
“I’m not aware of that,” Powell told the president.
Trump then pulled out a document to show Powell, presumably showing the cost he cited before. The Federal Reserve chair read the document on the spot and said the number Trump cited included a project that was completed years ago.
The president attempted to defend his claim, saying the building in question was “part of the overall work.”
Powell, though, fired back, saying, “It’s not new.”
TRUMP INSISTS ‘NO TENSION’ WITH POWELL AFTER MEETING DESPITE AWKWARD CLASH ON CAMERA OVER RENOVATION COST
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs during a hearing to “examine the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress” on Captiol Hill on June 25, 2025, in Washington, D (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Trump asked Powell if he expected there to be “any more additional cost overruns” in the renovations and the Fed chair said no, but that “we’re ready for them.”
Later in the tour, Trump called the renovation a “very expensive project” that “got out of control,” though he added “that happens. It’s a shame.”
Trump told reporters at the Fed building that it was “too bad it started,” but that he “would like to see it get finished.”
The end date for the project might be further away than the president previously hoped, as Powell said to reporters that the Fed did not expect renovations to be completed by 2027.
TRUMP COMPARES TALKING TO POWELL TO ‘TALKING TO A CHAIR’ WHILE TOUTING HIS OWN ECONOMIC PREDICTIONS
U.S. President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speak during a tour of the Federal Reserve Board building, which is currently undergoing renovations, in Washington, D.C., July 24, 2025. (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura / Reuters)
The president has also recently called on the chairman to cut interest rates to boost the economy, which Powell refused to do.
Earlier this month, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to urge the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors to take control from Powell if he resisted immediate interest rate cuts.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell, a stubborn MORON, must substantially lower interest rates, NOW,” Trump wrote. “IF HE CONTINUES TO REFUSE, THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!”
The Federal Reserve determines its interest rate policy collectively through a 12-member panel known as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which votes on those decisions with each member – including Powell – receiving one vote.
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The FOMC isn’t scheduled to meet again until Sept. 17-18, which would leave an unusual emergency meeting as the only avenue by which policymakers could cut rates ahead of time.
FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
