U.S. President Donald Trump speaks next to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a tour of the Federal Reserve Board building, which is currently undergoing renovations, in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 24, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to allow a “major lawsuit” against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to go forward, dramatically escalating his efforts to pressure the central bank leader to immediately lower interest rates.
The president said on Truth Social that the lawsuit would relate to Powell’s management of major renovations at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., which has become a focus of Trump’s criticism.
Trump’s post, which slammed Powell as a “loser” and branded him with the mocking nickname “Too Late,” did not make clear whether such a lawsuit was in the works. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell must NOW lower the rate,” Trump wrote in the post.
“Steve ‘Manouychin’ really gave me a ‘beauty’when he pushed this loser,” Trump wrote, appearing to blame his first-term Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for encouraging him to nominate Powell as Fed chair in 2017.
“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 claimed.
“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.”
“Three Billion Dollars for a job that should have been a $50 Million Dollar fix up. Not good!” he wrote.
The Fed declined to comment on Trump’s post. But Powell and the Fed have previously defended the ongoing renovations of two historic buildings in D.C., and provided details about why costs have risen over the course of the projects.
Powell pushed back on Trump to his face last month, when the president visited the Fed building’s construction site and asserted that renovation costs have topped $3.1 billion.
“I haven’t heard that from anybody,” Powell said in response.
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— CNBC’s Erin Doherty contributed to this report.