'Numbskull, moron and too stupid': Trump and Powell's biggest clashes

It has been one of the most fractious relationships between an American president and a central banker in history.

Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell - mainly because interest rates have not fallen as quickly as the 47th president of the US would like.

Now, as Powell prepares to step down as chair to make way for Trump's nomination Kevin Warsh, we take a look back at some of the biggest clashes between the two.

Trump expressed shock that Jerome Powell got the job of Federal Reserve chair in the first place.

"He's a terrible Fed chair," he said last July. "I was surprised he was appointed. I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him."

So who did nominate Powell?

It was the 45th president of the United States - Donald Trump.

Back in November 2017 during his first term, Trump said the Fed needed "strong, sound and steady leadership".

And "strong", "committed", "smart" Powell was the right person for the job, according to Trump.

The president of the world's biggest economy has had quite a few nicknames for America's top central banker.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has wanted the Fed to pick up the pace of interest rate cuts.

The bank - which cut rates three times in 2025 - wanted to see what effect Trump's trade tariffs would have on inflation.

Whenever the Fed voted to keep interests on hold, Trump blasted Powell.

Christening him "Too Late" in April last year, Trump said Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough!" and things have pretty much continued in that vein ever since.

"Numbskull", "moron", "a real dummy" are just some of the criticisms Trump levelled at Powell when talking to the media.

Or sometimes he would take to social media.

A typical post would read: "Jerome "Too Late" Powell has done it again!!! He is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair.

"He is costing our Country TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS, in addition to one of the most incompetent, or corrupt, renovations of a building(s) in the history of construction! Put another way,"Too Late" is a TOTAL LOSER, and our Country is paying the price!"

Since returning to the White House, Trump had mainly attacked Powell through press conferences or on social media.

Meeting face-to-face, the enmity continued as the two donned hard hats and traded blows over the true cost of renovating Federal Reserve buildings.

"It's about $3.1bn," said Trump, on a visit to see the works estimated to cost $2.7bn.

"It went up a little bit. Or a lot," said the president. Standing next to him, Powell vigorously shook his head. "I'm not aware of that, Mr President," he said.

Producing a piece of paper from inside his jacket, Trump had proof of the higher costs. But Powell said that the president had added a third building to the total.

"It's a building that's being built," countered Trump.

"It's a building that was built five years ago," replied Powell.

Asked what he, a former real estate developer, would do if a project manager went over budget, Trump said: "Generally speaking, I'd fire him."

One Sunday night in early January, Powell released a video.

In it, he revealed that Federal prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation, threatening an indictment over testimony he had given to a Senate committee about renovations to Fed buildings.

Trump said he did not "know anything" about the investigation.

Until that point, Powell had remained largely silent about Trump and his remarks.

But in that video, Powell said the "unprecedented action" by the Department of Justice (DoJ) "should be seen in the broader context of the administration's threats and ongoing pressure".

"This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation," Powell said.

Consequently, following the DoJ's move, Republican Senator Thom Tillis said he would not support Warsh's nomination as Fed chair while the investigation continued, calling it "a serious threat" to the central bank's "independence".

Earlier this month, the DoJ dropped the probe and Tillis said that he looked forward to supporting Warsh's confirmation.