1 of 2 | Then-U.S. President Donald Trump in November 2017 as he nominated Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to his current job in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened a “major” lawsuit aimed at Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over planned renovations to the central bank’s headquarters.
Trump said he was considering legal action against Powell in a Truth Social post, citing the “horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings.”
Trump said the price tag for the renovations, which he said exceeded $3 billion was far more than what was needed for what he claimed was a job “that should have been a $50 million dollar fix up.”
“Not good!” Trump wrote.
In July, Trump became the first president to visit the Fed headquarters since George W. Bush in 2006 as he toured the site and criticized the renovations, which had been estimated to cost $2.5 billion.
Powell, during the visit, disputed Trump’s claims that the renovations were slated to cost $3.1 billion.
“I haven’t heard that from anybody,” the Fed chair said in July.
In the post on Tuesday Trump also reiterated his calls for Powell to lower interest rates on the heels of a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed consumer prices rose by less than expected in July.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate,” Trump wrote.
He also criticized his former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, saying that “Steve ‘Manouychin’ really gave me a ‘beauty’ when he pushed this loser,” the president said, referencing his 2017 appointment of Powell to lead the Fed.
“The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable,” Trump said.
