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President Donald Trump on Tuesday ramped up his pressure on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, threatening to allow a lawsuit over the central bank’s $3.1 billion renovation project to move forward.
Trump took to Truth Social to blast Powell, who has refused to adjust rates despite repeated demands by the president as inflation remains steady, holding at 2.7% in July.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.
THE FED’S FOOLISH INTEREST RATE POLICY IS STOPPING AMERICA’S ECONOMY FROM BOOMING
“Steve ‘Manouychin’ really gave me a ‘beauty’ when he pushed this loser. The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board.”
Trump then went on to dangle the prospect of the legal action, although it is unclear what lawsuit Trump was referring to.
“I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings. Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!”
The comments are Trump’s latest public attack against Powell despite appointing him as the Federal Reserve chair in 2017. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment.
GOOD ECONOMIC DATA IS BAD NEWS FOR TRUMP’S INTEREST RATE PUSH
The Federal Reserve’s renovation is focused on two historic buildings in Washington, D.C.: The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building and the adjacent 1951 Constitution Avenue structure, also known as the FRB-East Building.
Powell and the Fed have previously defended the ongoing renovations, emphasizing that they’re necessary structural updates and not luxuries, and are in full compliance with plans approved by the National Capital Planning Commission in 2021. Powell and Trump toured the site last month.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump slammed the costs of the overhaul.
“We are not going to allow people to spend $3.1 Billion Dollars on fixing up a building, like the Federal Reserve, which could have been done in a far more elegant and time sensitive manner for $50 to $100 Million Dollars,” Trump wrote. “The Renovation would have actually been better, and would have saved $3 Billion Dollars, Traffic Jams and never-ending Construction.”
Earlier this month, Trump urged the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors to take control from Powell if he resisted immediate interest rate cuts. The Fed has held its benchmark interest rate range between 4.25%-4.5%, which Trump has argued stifles American economic growth.
The Federal Reserve determines its interest rate policy collectively through a 12-member panel known as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which votes on those decisions with each member – including Powell – receiving one vote.
The FOMC isn’t scheduled to meet again until Sept. 17–18, meaning an emergency meeting would be the only way to cut rates beforehand.
Last month, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., referred Powell to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges, accusing him of lying about lavish amenities at the Federal Reserve’s Eccles Building and misrepresenting its state of maintenance.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Eric Revell and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
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