Trump Insists ‘No Tension’ With Powell After Tour of Fed’s Construction Site

The tour comes on the heels of a months-long pressure campaign by the president to cajole the Fed chair into reducing interest rates.

President Donald Trump speaks alongside Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

President Donald Trump insisted there was “no tension” between him and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during an at-times contentious tour of the construction on the central bank’s headquarters Thursday afternoon.

The tour came amid a months-long pressure campaign by the president to cajole Powell into reducing interest rates, a theme he repeatedly visited while speaking with reporters at the site.

Immediately after the tour ended, Trump said: “Very importantly, we have to get interest rates lowered in our country.”