To an unprecedented degree, Donald Trump has lobbied his handpicked Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, to lower interest rates. The heavy-handed tactics, which have unfolded in recent months in public and private, haven’t had much of an effect, which in turn has generated no shortage of frustration in the Oval Office.
Indeed, the president has resorted to juvenile taunts and name-calling, publicly condemning Powell as, among many other things, a “moron” for failing to follow Trump’s misguided demands.
Having exhausted his usual bullying tactics, the Republican and his team began exploring alternative ways to gain leverage over the largely independent Fed chair. Recently, this led the White House in an unexpected direction: Team Trump decided to focus on building renovations at the Federal Reserve, with the president suggesting that cost overruns might constitute grounds to fire Powell, who has ignored calls to resign.
So on Thursday Trump made a historically unusual visit to the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., presumably to add a fresh round of pressure. This did not go as well for the president as it could have.
During the visit, for example, Trump flubbed basic details about developments at the European Central Bank, which he pretended to know something about. Around the same time, the Republican made specific boasts about the impact of a rate cut, which were quickly discredited.
But those comments only set the stage for the pièce de résistance. As The New York Times reported:
The chair of the Federal Reserve closed his eyes and shook his head. He was about to do something that few senior government officials ever do, at least in public: fact-check President Trump in real time.
This is one of those stories in which watching the video is necessary to fully appreciate what transpired.
During brief remarks with reporters, the president, with Powell standing just inches away, declared that cost overruns on the project have reached “about $3.1 billion.” The Fed chair could be seen immediately and rapidly shaking his head, making clear to those in attendance that Trump was citing a number that wasn’t true.
“I’m not aware of that,” Powell interrupted. The figure, the Republican responded, “just came out.”
Moments later, Trump tried to justify his claim, pulling a document from his jacket pocket and handing it to the Fed chair. Powell quickly reviewed the data and noticed an important flaw.
“You just added in a third building,” Powell said.
“It’s a building that’s being built,” Trump replied.
“No, it was built five years ago,” the Fed chair reminded him. “It’s not new.”
Oops.
It was not a flattering moment for a president who routinely makes up figures but who is rarely fact-checked by his own appointees on camera. Indeed, one of the more notable elements of the exchange was that Powell didn’t seem to care at all about Trump’s delicate ego or fear of public humiliation.
As for the underlying issue, it’s true that the renovation project is over budget, but as The Associated Press reported last week, it was Trump appointees, not Powell, who pushed for elements that raised costs.