Trump attacks Powell as a ‘fool,’ accuses Fed chairman of extreme incompetence

The president Donald Trump On Monday they launched a renewed attack on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, accusing Powell of being “outrageously ignorant” and threatening to sue him over the expensive renovation of the central bank’s headquarters.

Trump spoke at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and raised the alarm Fed chairman Powell as “stupid.” Powell, who was nominated to chair the Fed by Trump in 2017 and re-nominated by then-President Joe Biden in 2021, will see his term as chairman expire in May.

The president defended his project to build a ballroom at the White House and compared it to the renovation of the Fed, saying, “We’re under budget and ahead of schedule, and they’ve wanted it for 150 years. Think about it. The Federal Reserve building, two buildings, they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re over budget. I mean, most of this was built during the Biden administration.”

“‘Late’ Powell, ‘too late,’ because he is always very late with interest rates, except before the election, it was too early because that should have helped him to be elected. It had no effect, we won all seven electoral districts,” said Trump.

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The president went on to say that he is still considering filing charges against Powell The Fed’s recovery projectsaying he has shown “incompetence” in directing the repairs.

“We are thinking of bringing a suit against Powell for incompetence, because think about it, these two – these are not outstanding buildings, these are small buildings. It will end up costing more than 4 billion dollars, 4 billion dollars. The highest amount of construction, and the Democrats, the highest amount of construction per square foot in the history of the world,” said Trump.

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President Trump and his allies have been pushing the Federal Reserve for aggressive interest rate cuts to stimulate the economy. (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/Reuters)

The project was originally estimated at $1.9 billion in 2019, although the estimated cost has risen to about $2.5 billion by 2025 due to “significant increases” in the cost of wood, steel, cement and other building materials, as well as costs to remediate asbestos and lead from the building, according to the report. The Wall Street Journal.

In August, the president and several of his allies joined in criticizing Powell over both the adjustment and monetary policy amid a concerted push to get The Federal Reserve in order to lower interest rates he received a visit of correction from Powell himself.

During a heated exchange in front of the media, Trump said the renovation project cost $3.1 billion and gave Powell a document including that information. Powell noted that this figure includes renovations to the McChesney Martin building, which was completed years ago and reopened in 2021.

It is not clear where the president got the “more than $4 billion” figure he mentioned.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell weighed in on President Donald Trump’s $3.1 billion claim during his tour of the Fed’s stimulus package. (Kent Nishimura/Reuters/Reuters)

Trump reiterated that he would fire Powell after suggesting last month that Powell has “mental problems” and saying he would like to “shoot his ass.” The president said the Fed chairman should resign, although he could still try to fire Powell even though his term as chairman ends in May 2026.

“Well, he should resign. It would be a kindness to the nation, but he’s close. I mean, we’re very close. I would fire him, I’d like to fire him, but we’re so close, you know, maybe I still can,” Trump said on Monday.

The president does not have the authority to fire the chairman of the Fed unless the removal is for cause. Although the president has repeatedly threatened to fire Powell, he has yet to do so and has repeatedly suggested that he will wait until his term ends to replace him.

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Powell, who has insisted that he will finish his term as head of the Fed, said that trying to remove him before the end of his term would not be allowed under the law. Although his term as chairman ends in May, his term as a member of the Fed’s board of governors will continue until January 2028, and he has not said whether he plans to step down from that position when his term as chairman ends.