Trump Uses Fed Headquarters Renovation Costs to Pressure Powell on Rates

President Trump publicly attacked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell by highlighting renovation costs at the Fed's Marriner Eccles Building, calling them wasteful and using the criticism as leverage to pressure Powell to cut interest rates. The tactic followed a pattern of public attacks on the Fed's independence. Legal scholars noted the President lacks authority to direct Fed monetary policy but can fire the chair for cause under contested legal interpretations.