President Donald Trump is set to visit the Federal Reserve on Thursday, a trip that follows his repeated criticism of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell over interest rates.
A public schedule from the White House shows Trump will travel to the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., at 4 p.m. ET, when other administration officials were slated to tour the facility to scrutinize a renovation project that has become a source of controversy.
Trump nominated Powell to lead the U.S. central bank during his first term in 2017, but he has heavily criticized the Fed chair in recent months for not lowering interest rates.
“Housing in our Country is lagging because Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell refuses to lower Interest Rates. Families are being hurt because Interest Rates are too high, and even our Country is having to pay a higher Rate than it should be because of ‘Too Late,'” Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Wednesday.
“Our Rate should be three points lower than they are, saving us $1 Trillion per year (as a Country),” he added. “This stubborn guy at the Fed just doesn’t get it — Never did, and never will. The Board should act, but they don’t have the Courage to do so!”
Powell said in early July that the Fed would already be easing monetary policy if not for tariffs and the concerns they bring about inflation. However, that intransigence may change with the next meeting of the central bank’s interest rate committee next week.
While Trump chided Powell and called for his resignation, the president’s allies raised concerns about the Fed renovations, which saw their costs balloon to $2.5 billion from $1.9 billion. It even became the subject of a criminal referral accusing the chair of lying to Congress about the project.
A couple of weeks ago, The New York Times reported that Trump drafted a letter to fire Powell — something he is only permitted to do “with cause” rather than policy disagreements. But the president quickly tamped down expeditions that he would take such drastic action.
“Fortunately, we get to make a change in the next eight months or so, and we’ll pick somebody that’s good,” Trump said, appearing to refer to the end of Powell’s term as Fed chair in May 2026. “We want to see lower interest rates. Our country deserves it.”