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WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump rattled off a number to shame Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell about the renovation costs of the Fed\u2019s headquarters \u2014 and America\u2019s central banker dared to correct him. Live on video.<\/p>\n
The exchange occurred Thursday in the plywood-sheathed headquarters of the Fed that are still under construction. Both men wore white hard hats and dark suits. Trump spoke with utter certainty, while Powell skeptically cocked his eyebrows.<\/p>\n
Trump claimed the renovation project was over budget at a $3.1 billion price tag, while Powell pushed back and said the president was including an extra building that had been renovated five years ago. The Fed has maintained that renovation costs are $2.5 billion, an increase from $1.9 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like it\u2019s about $3.1 billion, went up a little bit or a lot,\u201d said Trump.<\/p>\n
Powell shook his head in disagreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not aware of that, Mr. President,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just came out,\u201d said Trump, pulling a folded piece of paper from his suit coat\u2019s pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t heard that from anybody at the Fed,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just came out,\u201d Trump repeated.<\/p>\n
After some back and forth, Powell put on his glasses, stared at the numbers on the paper from Trump and asked, \u201cThis came from us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you including the Martin renovation?\u201d Powell said. \u201cYou just added in a third building is what that is. That\u2019s a third building.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a building that\u2019s being built,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it was built five years ago,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n
Trump ended his tour afterward by saying he wanted the renovation to be completed and Powell to aggressively cut benchmark interest rates. The Fed chair has refrained from responding to Trump\u2019s taunts on social media, saying the Fed can afford to be patient to monitor the impact of the president\u2019s tariffs on inflation.<\/p>\n
The exchange followed months of criticism by Trump of Powell as being \u201cToo Late\u201d on rate cuts and an accompanying pressure campaign to get the central bank head to step down.<\/p>\n
White House deputy chief of staff James Blair later said that Powell was \u201csplitting hairs\u201d on the renovation costs, though in this case it would be a $600 million hair about a building that Trump thought was still under construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way around it,\u201d Blair said. \u201cThe cost overrun is massive.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n