‘I’m not aware of that’: Watch Donald Trump, Jerome Powell clash over Fed costs in rare face off

Donald Trump showed up at the Federal Reserve Thursday—helmet on, critique in hand—marking the first time in 20 years a sitting president has visited the central bank he’s relentlessly attacked.

The encounter, captured on camera, saw Trump challenging Fed Chair Jerome Powell over the cost of renovating the central bank’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. “It looks like it’s about $3.1 billion,” Trump said, before Powell promptly corrected him: “I’m not aware of that. I haven’t heard that from anybody at the Fed.”

The Fed has pegged the renovation budget at $2.5 billion.

Trump, undeterred, pulled a document from his jacket and handed it to Powell. The chairman glanced at it and noted Trump was “adding a third building” to the tab. “It’s a building that’s being built,” Trump insisted. Powell replied flatly, “It’s a building that was built five years ago… it’s not new.”

Both men wore hard hats as they toured the still-under-construction premises. Trump later posted on Truth Social: “Let’s just get it finished and, even more importantly, lower interest rates!”

Trump’s visit capped months of public taunts—often on social media—calling Powell a “numbskull” and a “stubborn mule” for not slashing interest rates faster. He has repeatedly floated the idea of firing him.

The Fed chair has mostly ignored the barbs, maintaining that the bank needs to be patient and watch the inflation impact of Trump’s own trade policies.

After the visit, Trump wrote, “Would have been much better if it were never started, but it is what it is.” Powell didn’t respond publicly.