Trump to tour the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion renovation, escalating his pressure campaign on Jerome Powell

President Donald Trump will join a tour of the Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, on Thursday afternoon, a sharp escalation in his pressure campaign on the body’s chairman Jerome Powell over the central bank’s renovation project and interest-rate policy.

It’s rare for any president to visit the headquarters of the Fed, much less call for its head to step down. But Trump has blown past the body’s traditional independence and has mounted an effort to undermine Powell after the central bank paused interest rate cuts amid uncertainty over trade policy.

The visit, set for 4pm ET, had been previously scheduled as an opportunity for members of Trump’s staff to observe a renovation project of the Fed’s historic headquarters, which has gone well past budget and which the White House says may have violated planning requirements.

Trump’s decision to join the tour, announced late Wednesday by the White House, significantly ratchets up the symbolism of the visit. It wasn’t clear whether Trump would encounter Powell as part of the trip.

The last president to visit the Fed headquarters — situated along the National Mall only a few blocks from the White House — was George W. Bush in 2006, when he traveled the short distance to attend a swearing-in ceremony for Ben Bernanke.

Typically, presidents have avoided taking any steps that might appear to interfere in the central bank’s independence, particularly when it comes to the politically sensitive issue of interest rates.

But Trump has openly gone to war with Powell over the Fed’s decision to keep rates steady. He has nicknamed the central banker “Too Late” and pointed to Powell as a reason the economy isn’t running at full throttle. Trump has suggested a rate cut of roughly 3 percentage points.

The Fed is expected to keep rates steady at a meeting next week.

Although the name-calling continues, the attacks on Powell began to focus starting last month on the Fed’s expensive renovation. During his biannual testimony before Congress, Powell was grilled repeatedly on the project’s enormous expense and cost overruns. Republicans have nicknamed the project “the Palace of Versailles” and accused Powell of overseeing an overly ostentatious project with ornate sculptures and luxurious features. Powell has denied those accusations, arguing that the renovation of the century-old buildings is long overdue and necessary.

“There’s no VIP dining room, there’s no new marble … there are no special elevators, just old elevators that have been there,” Powell testified before the Senate last month.