I promised myself I wasn’t going to write about Donald Trump’s publicity stunt at the Marriner Eccles building on Thursday.
I stopped dignifying farce in these pages a very long time ago, and Trump’s tour of ongoing construction at the Fed’s D.C. headquarters was farce on a grandiose scale. “Political theater,” as The Wall Street Journal put it.
Ultimately, though, I couldn’t help myself. I’m not sure what I expected from the event, but the spectacle of Trump and Powell wandering half-finished hallways in matching hard hats was undeniably funny despite the extraordinarily foreboding context.
Such bizarre juxtapositions — between comedic farce and dire circumstance — are quintessentially Trump. The collocation of slapstick comedy and impending catastrophe is his calling card.
Flanked by Tim Scott and standing to Powell’s right, Trump put the cost of the building project at the heart of the administration’s scheme to force Powell not just from the chairmanship, but from the Fed altogether, at “about $3.1 billion.” Powell shook his head, clinched his eyes shut and shook his head again as Trump spoke.
When Trump repeated that the estimated cost of the project recently rose to $3.1 billion, Powell was visibly flabbergasted. “I’m not aware of that, Mr. President,” he said. “It just came out,” Trump mused, producing a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. Powell put on his glasses, read it and told Trump the estimate included unrelated costs for renovations to a separate building.
“You just added in a third building is what that is,” Powell said, in a vaguely accusatory cadence. “That’s a third building.” “Well, it’s a building that’s being built,” Trump mumbled. “No, it was built five years ago,” Powell reiterated. “It’s part of the overall work,” Trump said. “It’s not new,” Powell shot back.
Of course, Trump’s estimate was no estimate. We all know what happened here. Trump instructed his aides, advisors and sundry flunkies to produce a physical prop he could use to ambush Powell, knowing full well that no one watching at home would care if the numbers were accurate. This was a setup, just like Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Ahead of the tour, a reporter wondered if there was anything Powell could say to make Trump “back off.” “I’d love for him to lower interest rates,” Trump replied, slapping Powell on the back. “Other than that, what can I do?” Powell summoned a fake laugh, then listened, stone faced, as Trump explained how “We had a dead country one year ago [but now] we have the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
The optics of Trump’s Fed visit conjured uncomfortable memories of his infamous 2020 “Bible walk” in Lafayette Square. During that episode, Trump was accompanied by top Pentagon officials including General Mark Milley, who later apologized for his role in what was widely decried as an attempt to suggest racial justice protests would be put down by the US military.
While it’s a bit of a stretch to liken Thursday’s spectacle at the Eccles building to the photo op at St. John’s Church, I’d suggest the construction inspection was more than political theater. It was intended, rather plainly, as a show of in-person, physical coercion.
Trump later told reporters he and Powell “had a little talk” about rates while touring the construction site. “I believe the Chairman is going to do the right thing,” he said.
The Apprentice really jumped the shark with this Undercover Boss crossover episode
It was like watching a bad vaudeville routine: “Who’s on first, what was the cost of the second? . . . Oh wait, that’s a third building!”
Maybe not by the numbers, but by sentiment the US is losing reserve currency and reserve stock market status. A Ferrari is just a clown car if Bozo is driving.
I watched a bit of the press conference afterwards, and the most amazing thing happened about two or three minutes in. Trump was still wearing his hard hat at first, but realizing he no longer needs it, he takes it off.
His hair was flawless. His silvery coif sprang back into position like a memory foam mattress. I couldn’t believe it. That man really can work miracles. Of course, it’ll take more than a miracle to move Powell to lower rates next week.
I really wish Powell had looked at the paper, seriously considered it, and then said “but where are the Epstein files you promised to release?”
YES !
2nd!
Great to see JPow calmly correct Trump, and call him out on his lie (OK, transparent misrepresentation…or was it just ignorance?).
Given he knows his days are surely numbered, here’s hoping to see still more from him to call out ignorance, misrepresentation and foolish political grandstanding on economic policy…love to see Agent Orange turn red….
My initial thought is that this is an AI photo.
I assume you’re joking. Surely you’ve seen all these pictures and surely you watched the tour live on television like all the rest of us? https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/search?query=powell%20trump&mediaType=photo&st=keyword
That’s precisely my point—this isn’t a joke. The odds of Mr. Powell being removed based on an unsubstantiated accusation are increasing by the day.
Is this the Don’s and Jay’s Mike Dukakis moment?