President Donald Trump spent part of a joint event alongside a foreign leader to simultaneously attack the Federal Reserve's ongoing renovations of its campus while touting his planned White House ballroom.
During a Monday press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump answered one reporter's question about his planned replacement of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell by launching a litany of complaints about the Fed's upgrades of its two main buildings in Washington D.C. After repeating the false claim that the renovation was costing $4 billion (the highest estimates peg the cost at $2.5 billion), Trump argued that Powell was "incompetent" due to the cost of the project.
"We have a fool at the Federal Reserve, I mean, [former President Joe] Bidenreappointed him. It's too bad," Trump said of Powell, who was appointed in November of 2017 during Trump's first term. "You would have thought hewouldn't have done that. But,he's an absolute fool who'sbuilding a new Federal Reserve,or he's doing a renovation of abuilding. Maybe he's up to $4.1billion to do a renovation of afew very small buildings. It'sthe highest price in the historyof construction."
The Fed's website explains that neither of the two buildings that serve as the headquarters of the United States' central bank have been renovated since they were built in the 1930s. Part of the construction involves removing carcinogenic building materials used during original construction, like lead and asbestos, and completely replacing "antiquated" building systems like heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) along with electrical wiring and plumbing. The Fed also aims to bring the two buildings up to code by including new accommodations for disabled people.
Trump contrasted the Fed's renovations with his White House ballroom, which is meant to replace the demolished East Wing of the White House. The cost of Trump's project has doubled to $400 million, despite him initially claiming the ballroom would cost $200 million.
"I'm doing amagnificent, big, beautifulballroom that the country haswanted, the White House haswanted for 150 years. It's amassive job, and it's a tinyfraction of that number. Andwe're under budget and ahead ofschedule," Trump said. "Now, it's biggerthan I told you. It's — after realizing we'regoing to do the inauguration inthat building — it's got allbulletproof glass, it's got alldrone, they call it drone-freeroof. Drones won't touch it.It's a big it's a big,beautiful, safe building."
Unlike the Fed's renovations, Trump's proposed White House ballroom did not undergo a public review process by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which is a requirement for all historic buildings in Washington D.C., whereas the Fed has been planning its renovations since 2017 and finally broke ground in 2022. The NCPC's final review of the Fed's planned renovations was published in September of 2021. Fortune reported that much of the increased costs are due to raw materials spiking in cost after the global supply chain was effectively decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Watch the video of Trump's remarks below: