President Donald Trump made headlines Thursday during his first televised interview since South Park aired controversial jokes mocking the size of his manhood. Wearing a noticeably large white hard hat, Trump toured the Federal Reserve’s renovation site in Washington, D.C., alongside Fed Chair Jerome Powell—turning the visit into a tense exchange over costs and credibility.
While the tour was initially intended to highlight the $3.1 billion modernization of the Federal Reserve complex, the moment quickly devolved into a back-and-forth between the two men, with Trump repeatedly jabbing at Powell over the project’s price tag.
“It looks like it’s about $3.1 billion, it went up a little bit or a lot,” Trump remarked during the visit. “So the $2.7 [billion] is now $3.1.” The president, who has recently labeled Powell a “stupid,” “dummy,” and “knucklehead,” continued to criticize the project’s expense, The Guardian reported.
Powell quickly corrected him, noting that Trump’s math included a building completed five years earlier.
“You just added in a third building is what that is,” Powell told him. Trump insisted, “It’s a building that’s being built.” Powell replied flatly, “No, it was built five years ago. We finished Martin five years ago.”
The exchange, awkward and oddly personal, came amid a broader attempt by Trump to assert dominance, even jokingly slapping Powell on the back when asked what the Fed Chair could do to regain favor.
“Well, I’d love him to lower interest rates,” Trump said. “Other than that, what can I tell you?”
Following the televised encounter, Trump took to Truth Social to frame the visit as a “Great Honor,” while once again criticizing Powell and the renovation’s cost overruns. “It’s got a long way to go; it would have been much better if it had never been started,” Trump posted. “But it is what it is… Hopefully, it will be finished ASAP.”
He added, “As everyone knows, I renovated the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue, and it was a roaring SUCCESS. The total Construction cost was a small fraction of the Fed Building’s cost, and it is many times the size.”
Meanwhile, controversy surrounding Trump escalated further after South Park aired its 27th season premiere, featuring a nude, cartoon version of Trump with jokes about his genitals. The segment drew attention for seemingly violating a $16 million settlement agreement between Trump and Paramount, while also coinciding with the recent firing of comedian Stephen Colbert.
Responding to the episode, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers stated, “The Left’s hypocrisy truly has no end,” in comments to The Daily Beast. The outlet also contacted the White House for additional remarks regarding the notable difference in hard hat size between Trump and Powell.