Former President Donald Trump
claimed
there was “no tension” between him and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during their meeting Thursday at Fed headquarters, despite an awkward exchange caught on camera and pointed questions about Powell’s future.
Trump, who has been openly critical of Powell for weeks over interest rates and what he sees as excessive spending, visited the Fed’s D.C. building with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), where he again took aim at the central bank’s multibillion-dollar headquarters renovation project.
“I thought we had a good meeting. No tension—none,” Trump told reporters after the visit. “I think he had more tension with my great senator to the right.”
The visit came as Trump
continued
pressuring Powell to cut interest rates, blaming him for raising rates during Joe Biden’s presidency and accusing him of stalling under his own administration. Trump also railed against the cost of renovations at the Federal Reserve, which he described as “luxurious” and bloated.
While touring the facility, Trump declared the renovation costs had risen to about
$3.1 billion
, up from earlier estimates of
$2.7 billion
, and pulled out a paper to prove it. Powell appeared visibly confused by the figure and responded, “I’m not aware of that, Mr. President.”
Trump handed Powell the document and claimed it came directly from the Fed. Powell reviewed it and explained the higher cost included renovations already completed at an additional building, not part of the new project.
“You just added in a third building,” Powell said. “It’s not new.”
Sen. Scott backed Trump’s claim, saying the Banking Committee had previously flagged cost overruns that Powell dismissed. “Thank God President Trump and his team took enough time to dig into some of the details,” Scott said.
Despite the back-and-forth, Trump dodged direct questions about whether he would fire Powell, saying only, “I’d fire him”—in reference to a hypothetical project manager responsible for similar overruns—but quickly softened his tone.
“I’m here with the chairman. He’s showing us the work. I don’t want to be personal. I just would like to see it get finished,” Trump said.
The latest
clash
is part of a long-running feud between Trump and Powell over Fed policy, interest rates, and now, ballooning construction costs at the central bank.
