President Donald Trump and the president of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell went back and forth in front of the press on Thursday concerning Trump’s claims concerning cost surpassions at the Fed headquarters in Washington.
The superb side by side took place while Trump began a rare visit to the Fed building, in what was largely considered to be the last chapter of his pressure campaign to lower interest rates or resign as president of the Central Bank.
But Trump also suggested that he abandoned any consideration to dismiss Powell, despite floating this unprecedented idea and legally challenged earlier this month.
“Doing this is a big decision, and I don’t think it’s necessary,” Trump told journalists after his brief spare with Powell.
He added: “I think he’s going to do the right thing.”
The president’s visit to a construction site at the Fed Thursday afternoon came when his administration recently attached in the expensive renovations of two buildings of the Historic Central Bank at DC
Shortly after his arrival, Trump and Powell were seen on tour on the site, wearing white helmets.
They approached journalists there, and Trump said that the construction costs for the current renovation of the two Fed buildings had exceeded $ 3.1 billion.
“I did not hear that of anyone,” replied Powell.
He said Trump added the costs of a third government building, which was “built five years ago”.
Trump replied: “So we’re going to take a look. We will see what’s going on, and it has a long way.”
When a journalist asked if Powell could say everything that brought Trump to support his criticism, the president said: “Well, I would like him to lower interest rates.”
Trump said before arriving that he would be joined by Powell and many administration officials, as well as two Republican senators.
US President Donald Trump and the president of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell Tour of the renovation project of the federal reserve of the $ 2.5 billion on July 24, 2025 in Washington, DC.
SOMODEVILLA chip | Getty images
“Also present, the president of the Fed Jerome Powell, the senator Tim Scott, the senator Thom Tillis, the director of the OMB, Russ Vought, president of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Bill Pulte ,, my people appointed to the National Capital Planning Commission, James Blair and Will Scharf, and various other construction professionals”, wrote Trump in a truth post.
Pulte, who directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is one of Powell’s hardest criticism and was one of the most vocal defenders in the Trump administration calling for its replacement.
“Jerome Powell must resign,” wrote Pulte on X earlier Thursday.
Trump demands that Powell immediately reduces the reference interest rate, while repressing him with accusations of incompetence and political prejudices – even if it was Trump who initially appointed Powell for the role in 2017.
The key interest rate defines what banks are responsible for day -to -day loans, but also spreads in several consumer products.
The Fed launched a complete percentage point on this rate in the rear half of 2024, bringing it to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. But he has maintained the stable prices since December – exasperating Trump, who claims that the rates of reduction in student rates for hundreds of billions of dollars in interest costs.
Interest payments on American debt exceeded $ 1.1 billion in 2024.
The markets largely believe that the central bank will remain pending during its meeting next week, but that it will probably reduce the rates in September and once again before the end of the year.
Trump tried to mark Powell with the nickname “Too late”. And last week, he asked a room full of house republicans if they thought he had to fire the Fed chair.
But Trump then fell back, saying that he was “very unlikely” that he would end Powell “, unless he left for fraud”.
It is not clear if the president has the power to dismiss a president of the Fed. The Supreme Court recently indicated in a decision that the independence of the central bank is protected by a legal precedent.
But Trump and his administration have maintained the pressure, more recently by targeting the costs linked to a renovation of several years of several billion dollars of two historic federal buildings in Washington, DC
Vought earlier this month allegedly alleged that Powell “had greatly managed the Fed” by questioning the “ostentatious” construction project.
The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, who is considered a possible candidate to replace Powell, said the Fed on Powell on Monday needs a full exam.
It is rare that an exercise president presents himself at the Fed: Trump is only the fourth visit of this type since 1937, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt has devoted the building.
And no previous appearance took place while the president openly urged changes in monetary policy or threatened to investigate the conduct of the Fed chair.
The visit also takes place while Trump seeks to divert the attention from an increasing controversy on the processing by his administration of files still arranged linked to the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
– Jeff Cox of CNBC contributed to this report.
