Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell clashed on camera during the president’s visit to Fed headquarters.
President Donald Trump said Monday that the Justice Department will not drop its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, would “go all the way and see.”
Trump added that the rising cost of renovating the Fed’s two main buildings along the National Mall was “either gross incompetence or theft or bribery.” He also said he “feels bad” for Kevin Warsh, who he recently named to succeed Powell in May. “He may not have an office for four years,” Trump said, referring to the Fed building overhaul.
President Donald Trump speaks to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell during a visit to the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC, July 24, 2025. (Official White House photo by Daniel Torok)
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“They spent almost $4 billion on this whole renovation. I do buildings – I built a hotel, the Waldorf and I did it for about $200 million,” Trump said, adding that his previous real estate projects dwarfed the size and scope of the project. Federal Reserve renovations.
The Federal Reserve did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The renovation costs are now at the heart of a Justice Department criminal investigation opened in January into Powell’s congressional testimony on the project.
FEDERAL RESERVE PRESIDENT POWELL UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER HQ RENOVATION
Construction of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building in Washington, DC, July 14, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Powell called the move “unprecedented” in a Jan. 11 video statement and another example of what he described as Trump’s continued threats against the central bank. His decision to respond publicly, after days of private consultation with advisers, marked a radical departure from his usually measured approach.
The renovation is estimated at $2.5 billion and is financed by the central bank itself and not by taxpayers.
The Fed is self-funding and does not rely on Congressional appropriations to cover its operating expenses, which include employee salaries, facility maintenance and ongoing renovations. Its main revenues come from interest earned on government securities and fees charged to financial institutions.
The grand atrium of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building during a media tour of the central bank’s headquarters renovation in Washington, DC, July 24, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
In June 2025, Powell told members of the Senate Banking Committee: “There is no new marble. There are no special elevators.
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Powell also told lawmakers that no one “wants to do a major renovation of a historic building while in office.”
“We decided to do it because, honestly, when I was administrative governor, before I became president, I realized how much the Eccles Building really needed a serious renovation,” Powell said, adding that the building was “not really safe” and was not watertight.
The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board building is seen as a massive renovation continues on the building and the 1951 Constitution Avenue building, July 24, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
He also said the cost overruns are due, in part, to unexpected construction issues and the country’s inflation rate.
Trump has previously threatened legal action over the renovations and mocked the cost and design of the project.
“They’re building a basement in the Potomac River. I could have told them. It’s very difficult to do, it doesn’t work and it costs a lot of money,” Trump said. “But they are worth up to $4 billion, led by this clown,” he added. in Novemberreferring to Powell.
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Meanwhile, Warsh’s confirmation as head of the world’s most powerful central bank could be delayed by Republican opposition linked to Powell’s criminal investigation.
Warsh, but must first be confirmed by a simple majority in the Senate, a process that typically begins with a hearing and vote in the Senate Banking Committee.
Kevin Warsh during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank at IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, April 25, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said last week that he would oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee until the Trump administration completes its investigation into Powell. Tillis’ resistance takes on particular weight given his seat on the Senate Banking Committee.
With Tillis getting his hands on The appointment of Warsh, The only way to expel him from the Senate Banking Committee would be through a discharge vote in the Senate, a move that requires 60 votes and is unlikely in a deeply divided Senate, especially amid tensions over the Powell investigation.
