President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is weighing a lawsuit against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for allowing the central bank’s renovation to go over budget.
Estimated to cost $3.1 billion in total, the project went roughly $700 million over budget. Powell’s oversight of the pricey renovation has drawn Trump’s ire in recent weeks.
Trump is “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,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!”
The renovation has been at the center of Trump’s fight with Powell, whose term as the Fed chairman expires in May 2026.
The two clashed last month when Trump and administration officials toured the Fed headquarters in Washington to get a better understanding of the renovation taking place. Powell disputed the costs that the president cited.
“We’re taking a look, and it looks like it’s about $3.1 billion, it went up a little bit, or a lot — so the $2.7 [billion] is now $3.1 [billion],” said Trump, who had the spending costs on a document that he brought.
“I’m not aware of that,” Powell interjected. “I haven’t heard that from anybody at the Fed.”
Earlier this month, Trump took a shot at the renovation in an interview with Newsmax.
“I know more about renovating buildings,” he said, “and I will tell you [Powell’s] got $2.9 billion that they’re spending on this thing. And really, more than that, if you include the whole project. And it’s way over budget by hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“He shouldn’t be doing that,” the president added. “It’s almost like he’s building a palace for himself, but he’s not going to be there much longer anyway. That’s the good news. He’ll never get to use it.”
Trump has also targeted Powell for his hesitancy to cut interest rates. Possible candidates to replace Powell, including former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, appear more amenable to the president’s suggestion.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate. Steve ‘Manouychin’ really gave me a ‘beauty’ when he pushed this loser,” Trump said, referring to former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s endorsement of Powell for the top Fed post in 2017.
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“The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable,” he added. “Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board.”
The lawsuit threat comes after Fed governor Adriana Kugler abruptly resigned earlier this month. Trump tapped one of his economic advisers, Stephen Miran, to temporarily fill the vacancy until Kugler’s term expires on Jan. 31, 2026.
