Trump Blames Fed’s $2.5B Marble Project on Powell \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ President Donald Trump is using the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion renovation as justification to potentially fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Trump blames extravagant costs and marble upgrades for fiscal waste, but records show Trump appointees influenced the design. The standoff risks destabilizing central bank independence and investor confidence amid rising political scrutiny.
Quick Looks
- Trump weighs firing Powell, citing “lavish” Fed headquarters renovations.
- $2.5 billion overhaul includes glass atria, underground garage, and marble enhancements.
- Trump-appointed commissioners pushed for more white Georgia marble in 2020.
- Trump blames Powell for overspending, despite earlier GOP-led design input.
- Fed chair Powell says marble was added to satisfy external federal reviews.
- Trump calls Powell’s testimony into question and threatens legal scrutiny.
- White House officials request all construction revisions from the Fed.
- The Commission of Fine Arts pushed back against modernist glass plans.
- Dispute may lead to legal battle over Fed chair removal protections.
- Trump reissued order favoring classical architecture on first day of second term.
Deep Look
President Donald Trump is turning a contentious $2.5 billion Federal Reserve headquarters renovation into his latest point of conflict with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Framing the renovation—complete with underground parking, glass atria, and newly added white Georgia marble—as an act of federal excess, Trump is using the project as grounds for possible dismissal of Powell, whom he has clashed with for years over interest rates.
But records from 2020 Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) meetings suggest that Trump’s own appointees were key voices advocating for marble in the renovation. The irony: Trump, who redecorated the Oval Office in gold leaf, now criticizes the Fed’s aesthetic upgrades as “ostentatious,” while his appointees pushed for architectural traditionalism at the expense of cost savings.
Origins of the Marble Mandate
During Trump’s first term, the Fed presented initial designs focused on transparency, with modern glass exteriors symbolizing openness. However, CFA members appointed by Trump, including Duncan Stroik, a classical architecture advocate, objected. They requested alternatives using white Georgia marble, consistent with neoclassical buildings on Constitution Avenue.
Though Stroik’s 2020 proposal was voted down, the CFA withheld full approval. Over several months, negotiations pushed Fed architects to revise the design. By July 2020, new plans included marble panels for the base and cornice, aligning with Trump’s executive order on classical federal architecture, which favored “beautiful” buildings and dismissed modernist styles.
Rising Costs and Political Fallout
While marble alone doesn’t explain the renovation’s nearly $600 million in cost overruns, its inclusion complicates Trump’s narrative that Powell pursued a wasteful vanity project. Russ Vought, Trump’s former OMB director, recently cited “premium marble” as a symptom of Powell’s mismanagement.
In response, Powell wrote to Vought explaining that domestic marble was added to meet the concerns raised by external review agencies, namely the CFA and the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which has launched an investigation into project oversight.
Harvard emeritus professor and former CFA member Alex Krieger agreed that Trump’s appointees drove up project complexity and potentially its cost. “That attitude does add costs to the construction project,” he said. Former commissioners James McCrery and Justin Shubow, both Trump appointees, were removed after President Biden took office and had favored classical design principles over modern aesthetics.
Architecture as Political Weapon
This controversy is more than a matter of design preference—it’s a potential constitutional standoff. Trump has publicly floated removing Powell before his term expires in May 2026, hinting at “fraud” as a possible justification. Yet, the Supreme Court ruled in May 2025 that Fed leadership enjoys protections against politically motivated firings, reinforcing the bank’s structural independence.
The implications are profound. Should Trump attempt to fire Powell prematurely, financial markets could interpret the move as politicization of the Fed—risking a spike in borrowing costs, devaluation of U.S. bonds, and destabilization of central bank credibility.
Meanwhile, the White House’s deputy chief of staff James Blair said the administration will demand detailed revisions of all renovation plans, including cost comparisons between marble and glass options. “He’s either telling the truth or he isn’t,” Blair said of Powell’s congressional testimony. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment.
Legacy of Trump’s Classical Preferences
The Fed building isn’t the only structure entangled in this political drama. Trump’s executive order from December 2020 mandated classical architecture in federal buildings, criticizing modernism as soulless and alienating. Though rescinded by Biden, Trump reinstated the order on the first day of his second term, reigniting tensions over design philosophy.
Stroik, now a professor at Notre Dame, said marble doesn’t necessarily mean runaway costs. But he admitted the CFA didn’t evaluate pricing: “If they wanted to play the cost game, you do a marble facade and a glass facade and compare the cost. They never did that.”
As the fight continues, one question looms: Can architecture become the pretext for removing a central banker in an election year? For now, Powell remains in place, but the combination of monetary policy disputes, aesthetic ideology, and internal White House politics has turned a renovation into a potential national economic flashpoint.
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