President Donald Trump said Monday he is still weighing whether to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, repeating sharp criticism of Powell's leadership and signaling a decision could come as soon as January.
"I would love to fire him — maybe I still might," Trump said, adding that he will announce his plans for the Fed chairmanship "at the right time" and that "there's still plenty of time."
His comments, made alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform following their meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump accused Powell of "gross incompetence," citing what he described as massive cost overruns tied to a renovation of Federal Reserve facilities, which he claimed could exceed $4 billion.
The major upgrades involve two nearly century-old buildings that had never been fully renovated since their construction.
The renovations were initially budgeted at $1.9 billion but have since climbed sharply, with most public estimates putting the final cost closer to $2.5 billion.
Trump said his administration has discussed the possibility of legal action against Powell because of the overruns.
Powell was initially appointed as Fed chair in 2018 by Trump and was reappointed in 2022 by Joe Biden. His term ends in May.
"We're thinking about bringing a suit against Powell for incompetence because think of it, there aren't outstanding buildings these are small buildings," Trump said.
"It's going to end up costing more than $4 billion. It's the highest price of construction — again Democrats — highest price of construction per square foot in the history of the world.
"Gorgeous monuments are built for a much smaller price. So we're thinking about bringing what's called a gross incompetence lawsuit.
"It's gross incompetence against Powell, and it was his baby. And the guy's just incompetent," he said.
"I mean, there's nothing you can do about it. He's just a very incompetent man.
"But we're going to probably bring a lawsuit against him," Trump said.
The president contrasted Powell's spending with a ballroom his administration is constructing, which he said is under budget and ahead of schedule.
"I'm doing a magnificent, big, beautiful ballroom that the country has wanted, the White House has wanted for 150 years," Trump said.
"It's a massive job, and it's a tiny fraction of that number. And we're under budget and ahead of schedule now.
"It's bigger than I told you. ... It's got all bulletproof glass," he said.
"it's got — they call it [a] drone-free roof. Drones won't touch it.
"It's a big, beautiful, safe building. It's a big project for a tiny fraction of that," Trump said.
"We're under budget and ahead of schedule."
Trump also renewed his long-standing criticism of Powell's handling of interest rates, saying the Fed chair was "always too late," except before the election, when Trump alleged rate decisions were politically motivated.
"[I call him] too late because he's always too late with [lowering] interest rates, except before the election," he said.
"He was too early because that was supposed to help get [Kamala Harris] elected.
"It had no impact. We won all seven swing states," Trump said.
The president said no final decision has been made and that any announcement regarding the future of Federal Reserve leadership would come later.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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