The Federal Reserve (Fed) is scheduled to hold a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to determine interest rates starting on the 29th, amid President Donald Trump's visit to the Fed headquarters on the 24th (local time). It is unprecedented for a U.S. president to visit the Fed directly.
On that day, President Trump visited the Fed under the pretext of inspecting the site of the headquarters renovation and construction project, into which a significant budget is being invested. Wearing a hard hat for construction sites, President Trump, standing next to Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, said, "One of the reasons I wanted to come here and see is the budget overrun issue. I want to find out why that happened."
He continued, "So I'm looking at it now, and it seems like the budget is about $3.1 billion (4.2585 trillion won). It's gone up a bit. In fact, it's gone up a lot," and pointed out, "It went from $2.7 billion to $3.1 billion." In response to a reporter's question about how he would handle it as a real estate developer if a (construction) manager goes over budget, he replied, "What would I do? I'd fire them."
President Trump has publicly criticized Chair Powell for refusing to lower interest rates and has pressured him to resign. During this visit, the issue of interest rate cuts was also raised. In response to the question, "What would it take for Powell to withdraw his criticism?" President Trump said, "It would be great if they (Fed directors) lower the rates."