Jerome Powell, King Of Understatement, Says Trump’s Visit Was ‘Nice’

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday characterized President Donald Trump’s visit to see renovations of the central bank as “nice” as he downplayed any conflict between the pair.

In extraordinary scenes last Thursday, Powell and Trump publicly clashed over the falsely inflated cost of the building’s ongoing upgrade, with the Fed chief having to correct Trump’s bogus figures live on-air.

At a press conference Wednesday as the Fed’s twelve-member Federal Open Market Committee left interest rates unchanged, Powell was asked whether Trump’s questioning of the cost of the building’s long-planned overhaul was tied to the president’s aggressive push to get the cost of borrowing cut.

But Powell rose above the soap opera dynamics, telling a reporter it was “not for me” to comment on any link between the Fed’s renovation costs and the president’s campaign to bring down rates.

“We had a nice visit with the president,” Powell added. “It was an honor to host him. It’s not something that happens very often at the Federal Reserve, to have the president come over, let alone to visit a building. But it was a good visit.”

Earlier Wednesday, Trump renewed his attacks on Powell hours before the bank’s interest rate decision.

“‘Too Late’ MUST NOW LOWER THE RATE. No Inflation! Let people buy, and refinance, their homes!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Wednesday, deploying his often-used nickname for Powell, who he has also called a “numbskull.”

In a remarkable moment last week, Trump was called out for using erroneous figures for the cost of the renovation.

Powell, perplexed, shook his head to signal his disagreement.

“So the $2.7 is now $3.1,” Trump continued. Powell then stopped the president: “I’m not aware of that.”

“Yeah, yeah, it just came out,” replied Trump, reaching for a piece of paper from his jacket pocket.

Powell took the paper and put his glasses on, studying the document.

“Oh, you’re including the Martin renovation? You just added in a third building,” Powell said. “That’s a third building.”’

“Well, I know, but it’s a building that’s being built,” Trump said.

“No. It was built five years ago,” Powell corrected him. “We finished Martin five years ago. It’s not new.”

The president has suggested that the Fed renovation plan might be sufficient cause to fire Powell, who was nominated for the role by Trump himself in 2017.