OAN Staff Abril Elfi
5:49 PM – Thursday, July 24, 2025
President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell clashed on camera over Federal Reserve renovation costs.
On Thursday, Trump stated that the renovation at the central bank’s headquarters would cost $3.1 billion, much higher than the Fed’s $2.5 billion figure. Powell, standing next to him, shook his head.
“It looks like it’s about $3.1 billion. Went up a little bit, or a lot,” Trump said, asserting the cost of the renovation had increased from the previously estimated $2.5 billion.
“I’m not aware of that, Mr. President,” Powell said. “I haven’t heard that from anybody at the Fed.”
The president then pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket backing up the estimate. The reserve chair pulled out his reading glasses to examine the document more closely.
After looking it over, he told Trump that it would include the cost of yet another building that had been completed five years ago.
“It’s part of the overall work,” Trump said.
“It’s not new,” Powell responded.
Trump and numerous administration officials, such as Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who both participate on the committee that governs the institution, toured the Federal Reserve amid concerns about renovations to the central bank’s headquarters.
Top White House officials have focused on a $2.5 billion remodeling of the Fed’s headquarters, citing cost overruns and worries about whether Powell violated regulations.
White House deputy chief of staff James Blair and White House budget chief Russell Vought have led the charge in focusing on the renovations, and the president suggested earlier this month that the cost overruns “could be” grounds for Powell’s termination.
However, he has already eased up, stating that he does not aim to terminate the chair before his term expires in May.
Powell has requested that the central bank’s inspector general investigate the renovations, and the Fed has released an explainer on its website explaining why the project’s costs have grown.
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