Trump rips Fed renovations ahead of DC 'beautification' press conference
President Trump ripped the Federal Reserve's renovations to its headquarters Sunday ahead of a a press conference Monday addressing "crime and the beautification" of Washington, D.C.
“The Press Conference on Crime and 'Beautification' will be held tomorrow, at 10:00 A.M. EST, in the Press Briefing Room, and it will not only involve ending the Crime, Murder, and Death in our Nation’s Capital, but will also be about Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday.
“We are not going to allow people to spend $3.1 Billion Dollars on fixing up a building, like the Federal Reserve, which could have been done in a far more elegant and time sensitive manner for $50 to $100 Million Dollars. The Renovation would have actually been better, and we would have saved $3 Billion Dollars, Traffic Jams, and never-ending Construction,” he continued.
Trump has criticized the renovations of the Federal Reserve building, blaming Fed Chair Jerome Powell amid his feud with the central bank chief over interest rates.
Trump suggested and later backed away from the idea that the higher cost of renovations could be grounds to remove Powell from the Fed. Trump has openly criticized him multiple times because the Fed has not lowered interest rates due to uncertainty surrounding tariff measures.
Powell has previously defended the renovations.
“The project is large in scope because it involves the renovation of two historic buildings on the National Mall and that were first constructed in the 1930s,” Powell wrote in a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on July 17.
Trump visited the Fed on July 24 and claimed that renovation costs were $3.1 billion, up from the previously estimated $2.5 billion. Powell corrected Trump, saying the $3.1 million included previous projects but mentioning it was an “honor” to host the president.
The Monday press conference comes as federal law enforcement patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., after two 15-year-old boys were arrested for unarmed carjacking and beating up former Department of Government Efficiency staffer, Edward Coristine, also known as "Big Balls."
Trump has mentioned the idea of federalizing the city to combat excessive crime, even though crime rates are at a 30-year low in the nation’s capital.
He also signed an executive order creating a task force designated to make D.C. “safe and beautiful.”
In a different Truth Social post about this matter earlier on Sunday, Trump said, “Be prepared! There will be no ‘MR. NICE GUY.’ We want our Capital BACK. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”