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Trump Renews Attacks on Powell, Threatens Lawsuit
President Again Blasts Fed Chair Over HQ Construction and Rate Policy
President Donald Trump said he is considering allowing a lawsuit to proceed against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the renovation of the central bank’s headquarters, a project whose cost overruns have drawn scrutiny.
Trump in a social media post Aug. 12 resumed his criticism of the Fed chair over the central bank’s decision to hold interest rates steady and again hammered Powell over the renovation work.
“The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable. Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we’ve blown through Powell and the complacent Board,” Trump said. “I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings.”
Trump did not specify which lawsuit he was referring to in his post. The renovation work has become a flashpoint in Trump’s pressure campaign against Powell and the central bank for not lowering borrowing costs and saw him tour the construction site last month in a rare presidential visit to the Fed’s headquarters.
Data released earlier Aug. 12 showed underlying inflation picked up in July, though prices of goods rose at a more muted pace, tempering concerns about tariff-driven price pressures and raising expectations for a Fed rate cut in September.
