President Trump made an unusual visit to the Federal Reserve Thursday, donning a hardhat and being led on a tour of the construction site by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cap weeks of mounting criticisms over the $2.5 billion renovation project.
The two men even briefly sparred over the costs of the project, as Trump claimed a new and higher price tag before Powell fact-checked him in real-time before reporters.
After Trump said that the renovation cost had ballooned further to $3.1 billion, Powell shook his head.
Trump then produced a piece of paper that Powell looked at briefly. The central banker said that new figure added in the renovation of a third building — the William McChesney Martin building — that was finished years ago.
“You just added in a third building,” Powell said, standing alongside the president. “It’s not new.”
The high-profile construction project — which started in mid-2022 and is on track to be completed by 2027 — was also toured by Senators Tim Scott and Thom Tillis, as well as Trump’s budget director, his White House deputy chief of staff, his director of federal housing, and others.
“Were just taking a look at what’s happening,” the president said of the overall reason for the visit, acknowledging the complexity of the multi-year renovation project and that he saw “a lot of very expensive work, there’s no question about it.”
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Aside the brief, confrontational moment, Trump also played down his interactions with the Fed chair, though he did continue pressing him to lower interest rates.
He also continued to distance himself from efforts to fire Powell, saying repeatedly that this visit is about helping get the project finished and saying, “I don’t want to be personal.”
Later, Trump said of firing Powell: “To do that is a big move, and I just don’t think it’s necessary.”
Asked what might lead him to back off his barrage of critiques of Powell that Trump has been leveling for weeks, the president said “I’d love him to lower interest rates,” before patting Powell on the back.
The president later added to reporters on interest rates that he and Powell “had a little talk about it” and that he believes that Powell will “do the right thing.”
Trump’s high-profile visit comes as Powell is set to gather the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next week for another interest rate decision, which Trump emphasized again and again Thursday was his focus.
But the Fed has worked to push back against the mounting pressure from Trump and his top allies. Federal Reserve staff gave reporters a tour of the building earlier in the day to buttress their assertion that there were only two deviations from a National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) approved plan — the removal of seating on the roof of one building and the removal of plans for water fountains in front of a second building.
The Fed also pushed back against some of the more claims of outlandish amenities that Trump and his team have charged, like private dining rooms and “VIP elevators,” that have never been planned.
Trump did offer critiques of the of the project Thursday, saying: “I see a very luxurious situation taking place, let’s put it that way.” But he added that he didn’t want to be a Monday morning quarterback.
When pressed on whether this project could be considered a fireable offense, he said, “I don’t want to put that in this category.”
The central bank has repeatedly defended itself against the charges of lavish spending, even publishing a page on its website devoted to the renovations.
It says the increased costs came because of increased material costs and “unforeseen conditions” like asbestos, toxic contamination in the soil, and a higher-than-expected water table.
The two buildings, Powell added in a recent note, were in need of “significant structural repairs” after not having a comprehensive renovation since they were built in the 1930s.
For now, Trump offered largely muted comments and even acknowledged some of the complexities of the project, much of which requires expensive new digging.
Other key pressure points
In the coming weeks, Powell will also wrestle with calls for an “exhaustive internal review” of the Fed’s operations and pressure from Republicans on Capitol Hill that could ramp up in the fall.
“We just want to know why,” Senator Tim Scott added Thursday of the reason for why he joined the tour.
The Fed got another new headache Thursday when a money manager — and Trump ally who recently served as an adviser to the Department of Government Efficiency — filed a lawsuit arguing the central bank is violating a 1976 federal law by keeping its policy meetings behind closed doors.
There’s even a long-shot call for the Department of Justice to get involved and look at Powell personally.
Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, a subcommittee chair on the House Financial Services Committee, is also reportedly moving forward with a congressional investigation of the Fed — even as many of his Senate colleagues have shied away from that idea.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, another Trump ally, formally requested that the DOJ investigate Powell for perjury over June comments about the renovations. That is seen as a long shot at best.
Perhaps more pressing is that House Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview with Bloomberg reporters and editors this week that he is “disenchanted” with Powell and is even open to modifying the 1913 act that created the Fed.
That would be a major change, but it is not expected to come before Congress in the near term, as the House of Representatives went home Wednesday evening for a recess that is scheduled to last for the rest of the summer.
Also this week, Scott — who also asked Powell about the Fed’s renovations during a June 25 hearing — sent Powell a letter Wednesday asking for more questions to be answered by Aug. 8. He said there were “distinct differences” between public plans about the renovation, Powell’s testimony, and what the Fed has said on its website.
Treasury Secretary Bessent has also called for an “exhaustive internal review” of the Fed, saying it could be Powell’s “legacy,” as he accused the central bank of mission creep in its non-monetary policy activities.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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