President Donald Trump started answering at least one question Monday with visible edge and never quite recovered. What unfolded was a winding response focused on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as Trump bounced between grievances about interest rates, a Fed renovation project, and his own White House ballroom before the answer unraveled.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump was asked a simple question that seemed to set him off.
During the exchange, one reporter asked Trump about selecting a future Federal Reserve chair. “Still do, hasn’t changed,” Trump said when asked if he had a favorite candidate. “I’ll announce them at the right time, there’s plenty of time.”
Then almost immediately, Trump launched into a three-minute long ramble before he was caught in a loop of insults against Powell then cut things off completely.
“We’re doing numbers that nobody’s ever seen,” he said, before blaming what he called a “Democrat shutdown” and the Federal Reserve for holding back even stronger performance.
The president repeatedly mentioned the Fed’s construction project, describing it as wasteful and unprecedented in cost.
“He’s up to $4.1 billion to do a renovation of a few very small buildings,” Trump fumed. “It’s the highest price in the history of construction… per square foot in the history of the world.” Trump claimed he had driven past the site and concluded the buildings were unimpressive and badly mismanaged.
At several points, Trump contrasted the Fed project with renovations underway at the White House, where he said his new ballroom was being built “under budget and ahead of schedule.” Despite the cost ballooning past double the initial estimates.
Then he was trapped by his own insults.
“We’re thinking about bringing a gross incompetence … what’s called gross incompetence lawsuit … it’s gross incompetence against Powell. The guy’s just incompetent, I mean there’s nothing you can do about it. He’s just a very incompetent man.”
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Trump’s comments quickly drew scrutiny online.
The omission, delivered amid Trump’s broken sentences, did not go unnoticed.
One social media user asked, “Does nobody around him ever correct him on things like this? He keeps saying this, but everyone knows Trump appointed Powell.”
A second added, “This time he’s saying Biden reappointed him. Technically that’s true I suppose. Can’t bring himself to remind us that he appointed him in the first place.”
Trump’s freewheeling remarks also prompted reactions focused less on substance and more on delivery.
“What in the actual f—k? … this guy is skipping like a cd,” one commenter wrote.
“OMG! What is he saying? He repeats himself in the same sentence. Talks about things he has said a thousand times before. When is someone going to stop this man? He totally has dementia,” wondered another.
Trump again mixed economic claims with construction talk, saying, “Growth would be 5.5% without the Democrat shutdown, I’m doing a big beautiful ballroom, it has a drone free roof… we’re thinking about suing Jerome Powell for incompetence. Gorgeous monuments are built for a much smaller price.”
Another social media user pointed out a factual inconsistency in Trump’s economic claims: “What’s hilarious, is he’s saying the 3rd quarter GDP would be higher without the shutdown…..the shutdown didn’t start until after the 3rd quarter ended. He has no idea what he’s even talking about.”
Others were more blunt, with one person stating: “The man can’t finish a sentence, he clearly has dementia,” and another on the same thread adding: “He’s monumentally stupid.”
The remarks echoed threats Trump made earlier this year to sue Powell, though no legal basis has been clearly outlined. Powell has pushed back on Trump’s claims, and the Federal Reserve has publicly noted that the renovation was first approved in 2017 and has undergone annual budget reviews by the Fed’s board of governors. That history has not stopped Trump from fixating on the project as a potential avenue to remove the Fed chair.
Powell joined the Federal Reserve Board under President Barack Obama, but Trump elevated him to chair in 2018. President Joe Biden later renominated Powell in 2021, a point Trump referenced while criticizing his predecessor in the White House. “Biden reappointed him,” Trump said, adding, “you would have thought he wouldn’t have done that.”
The White House ballroom project itself has become a source of major controversy. Initial estimates placed the cost at $200 million, but Trump has since said it will reach $400 million.
The administration insists private funding, including donations from Trump and others, will cover the expense, with no taxpayer money involved. Preservationists and some lawmakers have questioned both the transparency of the funding and the impact on the historic White House complex, where Trump already has demolished the East Wing to make room for his project.
