TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Speaks to Reporters During Federal Reserve Tour, 7.24.25
[Video]
President Trump: Well, thank you very much. We're looking at the construction and uh, we're with the chairman as you know. Chairman, come on over. And we're just taking a look at what's happening. You know, it's a, it's a tough construction job. They're building basements where they didn't exist or expanding them. And a lot of very expensive work. There's no question about it. And, uh, Tim has been with me for a long time --
Senator Tim Scott: [Inaudible]
Trump: -- and you're in charge of the committee.
Scott: Indeed. One of the reasons I wanted to see it was the, the overruns of the expenses, wanting to figure out why.
Trump: Yeah. So we're taking a look and, uh, it looks like it's about 3.1 billion. It went up a little bit, or a lot. Uh, so the 2.7 is now 3.1. And --
Chairman Jerome Powell: I'm not aware of that.
Trump: Yeah, it, it just came out.
Powell: Yeah, I, I haven't heard that from anybody at the Fed.
Trump: Yeah, it just came out.
Scott: [Inaudible] About 3.1 as well.
Trump: 3.1.
Scott: 3.1, 3.2.
Powell: This came from us?
Trump: Yes. I don't know who does that.
Powell: You're including the Martin renovation. You just added --
Unidentified: The entire capital.
Powell: You just add, you just added in a third building is what that is. That's a third building.
Trump: Well, no, but it's, it's a building that's being built.
Powell: No, it's been, it was built five years ago. We finished Martin five years.
Scott: Part of its over.
Trump: It's part of the overall work. So I --
Powell: It's not new.
Trump: So we're gonna take a look. We're gonna see what's happening, uh, and it's got along way. Do you expect any more additional cost overruns?
Powell: Don't expect them. Uh, we're, we're ready for 'em, but we, we have a little bit of a reserve that we'll, we may use, but no, we don't. Expect to be finished in 2027. Um, we're well along as you can see.
Trump: Uh, nice to take these off every once in a while when we're not under too much danger. Uh, so any questions?
Question: Mr. President, does the issue give you any -- [Inaudible] As a real estate developer, what would you do with a project manager who would be over budget?
Trump: Uh, generally speaking, what would I do? I'd fire him.
Note: [Crosstalk]
Question: Mr. President gives you co-ops to do that?
Trump: Well, I'm here just really with the chairman. He's showing us around, showing us the work. And so I don't want to get that. I don't want to be personal. I just, uh, would like to see it get finished. And in many ways it's too bad it started, but it did start. And, uh, and it's been under construction for a long time. That'll be, it's gonna be a real long time. 'cause it looks like it's got a long way to go.
Scott: Yes, sir.
Trump: So.
Note: [Crosstalk]
Question: Are there things, are there things the chairman can say to you today that would make you back off some of the earlier criticism?
Trump: Well, I'd love him to lower interest rates. Other than that, what can I tell you? Uh, the country's doing really well. I just briefed the chairman on the deal we made with Japan. Japan is putting up $550 billion in order to lower their tariffs a little bit. That way, they have a little bit lower tariff. And, uh, they also opened their country to free trade, which nobody thought was even a possibility. And, uh, we get a zero tariff in the free trade. We don't pay tariffs. And, uh, they're gonna pay 15% on everything they send into our country. So it's great. But they put up, uh, as you could call it, uh, seed money. Let's call it seed money. You could call it anything you want, but it's five, it's a total of $550 billion. So nobody thought any of that was possible. And it's wonderful. And we're doing pretty well with the European Union, likewise. Uh, and we have some others. They're all really big, and our country's gonna make a lot of money. We would be helped if interest rates would come down, but we're gonna see how the board rules on that soon. I, I'd love to see 'em come down a lot. But, uh, we have a country that's, uh, thriving. Uh, we had a dead country one year ago today. We have the hottest country anywhere in the world, and we'll get this one finished.