The last president to visit the Fed’s headquarters was George W. Bush, 19 years ago in 2006. That streak ended on Thursday when U.S. President Donald Trump took a trip to the country’s central bank to inspect its $2.5 billion renovation project and meet with Fed Chair Jerome Powell to discuss interest rate policy.

Traditionally, and maybe even legally, a president is not supposed to directly influence Fed policy. But Trump and Powell have been at odds about the level of U.S. interest rates, with Powell reluctant to cut rates while inflation is still above the central bank’s target of 2%. Conversely, Trump says inflation has been mostly kept in check, and he doesn’t want the country paying upwards of $1 trillion in annual interest payments on the national debt, which has ballooned to roughly $36.67 trillion.

The president has been anything but subtle, calling Powell “dumb,” “stupid,” and “a numbskull.” His administration has even demanded that the Fed chair resign. And now, Trump is accusing Powell of mismanaging the central bank’s renovation project which has topped $2.5 billion, including budget overruns to the tune of $700 million.

“We should have the lowest interest rate of any country, and we don’t. Every point is worth $365 billion,” Trump said after touring the Fed, accompanied by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC). “We want to get the rates down, but we also want to get the Fed building finished.”

The president is adamant that Powell should lower rates by at least 3%. The current Fed Funds Rate is between 4.25%-4.50%. Despite having hurled insults at Powell for months, the president claimed their meeting was “a very productive talk.” The Fed Chairman however, appeared somewhat tense with hands tightly clasped in the tour photos.

(South Carolina Republican Tim Scott (far right) gave a scathing assessment of Powell’s leadership during Trump’s unusual visit to the Federal Reserve Headquarters in Washington DC. / Federal Reserve)

“I thought we had a good meeting. There was no tension,” Trump said. “I think he had more tension with my great senator to the right,” he added, referring to Scott who went on to give a scathing assessment of Powell’s alleged shortcomings.

“Bottom line is, we had an honest, candid conversation about some of the overruns at this building,” Scott explained to reporters. “We’re talking about an overrun on the Federal Reserve building as opposed to the Federal Reserve objective of lowering [rates] and keeping our economy full.”

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