The look on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s face said it all.
In a press briefing Thursday afternoon, midway through a tour of the Fed’s ongoing renovation project, President Donald Trump claimed that the work cost $3.1 billion — about $600 million more than its stated price tag.
The typically stoic Powell looked at Trump and began shaking his head.
“Went up a little bit — or a lot,” Trump said. “And so the 2.7 is now 3.1.”
That’s when Powell couldn’t hold it in any longer. The Fed chair shot Trump a quizzical look that appeared both aghast and confused.
“I’m not aware of that,” Powell interrupted.
“Yeah, it just came out,” Trump said, confidently, handing Powell a piece of folded paper from his inside jacket pocket.
Powell donned his reading glasses and reviewed the document, trying to surmise what Trump was talking about.
“This came from us?” Powell asked.
“Yes,” Trump said.
Seven awkward seconds of silence followed, until Powell figured it out: “Oh. You’re including the Martin renovation,” referring to a Fed building whose construction was completed in 2021. “You just added — you just added a third building.”
“It’s a building that’s being built,” Trump said.
“No, it’s been — it was built five years ago. We finished Martin five years ago,” Powell corrected.
“It’s part of the overall,” Trump started.
“It’s not new,” Powell interjected.
The tense moment, in which the heavily embattled Fed chair corrected the president in real time, marked an incredible show of force from a public official who has been the subject of Trump’s increasingly personal attacks for years — and especially over the past several months, as Trump has lambasted Powell over high interest rates.
Trump wasn’t done. Asked what he’d do in his former capacity as a real estate developer when a project manager went over budget, Trump told reporters, “I’d fire him!”
Powell, in his capacity as Fed chair, is overseeing the Fed’s massive renovation.
It seemed as though Trump’s scorn for Powell might have reached a tipping point. In an alpha moment, Trump even slapped Powell on the back asking him to lower rates, while chuckling. After another couple questions, the men continued their tour.
But, after the conclusion of the tour, Trump sounded a remarkably different tone. Trump said he didn’t want to fire Powell because of the plan’s cost overruns.
“Look, I would love to see it completed,” Trump said when asked if he would fire Powell because of what he saw on the tour. “I don’t want to put this in that category.”
Trump said there was “no tension” between him and Powell on the tour, despite their obvious and awkward public feuding minutes earlier.
“I feel good about it,” Trump said of the tour and his relationship with Powell.
“I mean, look I have one dispute,” Trump added, urging Powell to lower interest rates. The Fed has kept interest rates steady during Trump’s term after lowering rates twice toward the end of former President Joe Biden’s term as inflation fell. But Powell has said that inflation may creep higher because of Trump’s trade policy, and the Fed believes it is prudent to keep rates steady. Central bank officials meet next week to discuss their next policy move.
Trump has accused Powell of playing politics, an accusation that the Fed chair has routinely denied.
But Trump, in an possible show of support for Powell, said he had confidence in him.
“I believe that the chairman is going to do the right thing,” Trump said.
Nevertheless, Trump maintained that he has plans to replace Powell when his term expires in May 2026. Trump said he has “two people, maybe three” in the running.
