Nicolai Haugsted
Trump targets Central Bank official after watchdog delivers verdict on expensive renovation.
Donald Trump’s long-running feud with Jerome Powell survived Powell’s departure as Federal Reserve chairman. Apparently, changing the nameplate on the chairman’s office was not enough to end it.
Months after Kevin Warsh replaced Powell at the top of the US central bank, Trump has returned to one of his favorite economic targets with a demand that Powell leave the Federal Reserve altogether.
The president called for Powell’s immediate resignation from the Board of Governors and suggested that the US government should sue him if he refuses. Trump’s comments followed the release of a watchdog report into the Federal Reserve’s expensive headquarters renovation — a report that sharply criticized the handling of the project but found no grounds for criminal charges or administrative misconduct.
Trump wants Powell out immediately
Powell stepped down as Fed chairman in May after completing his term but chose to remain a governor. His current Board term runs until January 31, 2028, meaning Trump could still have Powell sitting inside the institution for well over another year.
Trump made clear on Truth Social that he would prefer a much earlier departure.
“The Building is over budget, at a Record Setting rate and, at a minimum, ‘Too Late’ Powell should be forced to resign from the Board,” Trump wrote according to The Irish Star.
“He can’t manage a Building, and he certainly shouldn’t be allowed to manage his High Interest Rate Policy (only on ‘TRUMP!’),” he continued.
Trump then went considerably further.
“This is Jerome Powell’s fault, and he should be forced to resign, IMMEDIATELY!” the president wrote. “If he doesn’t resign, he should be sued, at the highest level, by the United States Government, for either corruption or incompetence, both of which are completely unacceptable.”
Trump finished with a characteristically personal aside, insisting he had no interest in seeing the renovated building carry his own name.
“And no, I do not want this Building named after President Donald J. Trump, ME!”
Watchdog found serious problems but no crime
Trump’s attack arrived after the Federal Reserve’s Office of Inspector General completed its investigation into the renovation of two historic buildings at the central bank’s Washington headquarters.
Criticism of the project was hardly gentle.
Investigators found substantial shortcomings in the way the Fed managed the renovation, including inadequate cost controls and oversight. Costs have climbed to roughly $2.4 billion, with the watchdog concluding that officials could have taken numerous steps to limit the increases.
Criminal wrongdoing, however, was another matter.
“We did not find reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred and did not identify violations of Board policy warranting an administrative misconduct finding,” the report stated.
Federal prosecutors had previously investigated Powell over the renovation before closing the case without charges earlier this year.
Trump’s accusations of “corruption or incompetence” therefore represent his own characterization of Powell’s conduct rather than a finding made by the inspector general.
An old rivalry outlived Powell’s chairmanship
Money has long been at the heart of the Trump-Powell relationship, although usually the argument involved interest rates rather than construction bills.
Trump originally nominated Powell to lead the Federal Reserve during his first presidency. Powell became chairman in February 2018 and subsequently faced repeated public pressure from Trump over monetary policy.
Presidential criticism did not translate into the rate decisions Trump repeatedly sought.
Powell ultimately remained chairman until May 22, 2026, when Warsh succeeded him. Powell nevertheless retained his separate position as a member of the Board of Governors and remains part of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Warsh, himself nominated by Trump, now occupies the chairman’s seat through a term scheduled to run until May 2030.
