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President Donald Trump showed up at the Federal Reserve on Thursday to tour its renovation — but the symbolism of the visit revealed something far more urgent: America's spiraling $7.1 trillion deficit and the rising risk it places on markets and monetary policy.
Trump's appearance, just the fourth ever by a sitting U.S. president at the Fed, took a sharp turn when he publicly clashed with Chair Jerome Powell over the cost of the central bank's real estate overhaul.
But behind the construction spat lies a bigger concern: the cost of servicing the ballooning national debt, and the political pressure now building for lower interest rates.
According to Bank of America chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett, the scale of current U.S. government spending — $7.1 trillion annually — is so large that it translates to roughly $2.6 billion in outlays every three hours and 12 minutes.
That’s equal to the cost of the Federal Reserve’s renovation of its Washington, D.C. headquarters.
The fiscal strain is becoming untenable: interest payments alone are approaching $1 trillion a year. In this environment, Hartnett said Trump's team is likely to push for interest rates below 3% to stabilize borrowing costs.
That could mean an extraordinary shift in how the Fed manages rates.
"The next Fed governor is likely to launch Yield Curve Control to control debt," Hartnett said — referring to a controversial policy in which the Fed would cap long-term Treasury yields by buying bonds, similar to Japan's monetary framework.
The president's Fed visit wasn't just symbolic — it quickly turned tense.
Standing side-by-side in hard hats, Trump told reporters the renovation of the Fed's historic buildings ballooned to $3.1 billion.
Powell fired back immediately, saying Trump had included costs from an unrelated building completed five years ago.
The correct figure, Powell clarified, is around $2.5 billion — a number backed by prior Congressional reporting.
Responding to a reporter who asked what he hoped to hear from the Fed chair, Trump said, "I'd love to see him lower interest rates."
The visit, broadcast live on major networks, marked yet another chapter in Trump's long-standing campaign to pressure Powell and the Fed into cutting rates.
With the Federal Funds Rate currently at 4.25%–4.50%, Trump reiterated his position that borrowing costs are too high.
This time, though, the push didn't come via X or Truth Social — it happened in person, on camera, and in the heart of the central bank's headquarters.
While Trump publicly said he doesn't plan to replace Powell, betting markets suggest the story isn't over.
On July 25, Kalshi data showed about a 20% chance Powell is out by year-end, and 7% odds of an early exit before September.
Names floated as potential replacements include former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh (37%), economist Kevin Hassett (23%), current Fed Gov. Christopher Waller (20%) and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (14%).
As Trump gears up for further fiscal expansion under his One Big Beautiful Bill Act — expected to add $3.4 trillion to deficits over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office — his campaign to reshape the Fed into a growth-oriented institution appears far from over.
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