President Donald Trump put Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the spot about the cost of renovations to the Fed’s Washington headquarters building going over budget.
“We’re taking a look, and it looks like it’s about $3.1 billion. Went up a little bit—or a lot,” Trump said. “So, the 2.7 is now 3.1. It just came out.”
Powell pushed back, saying he hadn’t “heard that from anybody.” The Federal Reserve chairman, who Trump has repeatedly threatened to fire for refusing to lower interest rates, said the number was so high because Trump included a third building finished five years ago.
“We’re going to take a look,” Trump said. “We’re going to see what’s happening, and it’s got a long way [to go].”
Trump asked Powell if he expected to go over budget any further.
“Do you expect any more additional cost overruns?” Trump asked.
“Don’t expect ’em. We’re ready for ’em. But we have a little bit of a reserve that we may use, but no, we don’t,” Powell said. “We expect to be finished in 2027.”
A reporter later asked Trump if his visit to the Fed was intended to pressure Powell—who the president often refers to as “too late”—to resign.
“No, there’s no pressure … I think he’s going to do the right thing,” Trump said. “Everybody knows what the right thing is. Even people that believed in the higher [interest] rates, they all want to see the interest rates come down.”
