president donald trump said Monday that the Justice Department will not drop its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, “will take it to the end and see it through.”

Trump added that the increased cost of renovating the two main Fed buildings along the National Mall is “either gross incompetence or it’s theft of some kind or kickbacks.” He also said he “feels bad” for Kevin Warsh, who recently died nominated to succeed Powell in may “I may not have an office for four years,” Trump said, referring to the overhaul of Fed buildings.

President Donald Trump speaks with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell during a tour of the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC on July 24, 2025. (Official White House photo by Daniel Torok)

THE FED’S $2.5 BILLION RENEWAL IRKING PRESIDENT TRUMP AND TEAM

“Almost $4 billion has been spent on all this renovation. I’m doing buildings — I built a hotel, the Waldorf, and I did it for about $200 million,” Trump said, adding that his previous real estate projects dwarf the size and scope of the project. Federal Reserve renovations

The Federal Reserve did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The renovation costs are now central to a Justice Department criminal investigation opened in January into Powell’s congressional testimony about the project.

FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN POWELL IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OF HEADQUARTERS RENOVATION

Construction of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building in Washington, DC on July 14, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Powell called the move “unprecedented” in a Jan. 11 video statement and another example of what he described as Trump’s continued threats to the central bank. His decision to respond so publicly, after days of private consultations with advisers, marked a major departure from his typically measured approach.

The renovation is estimated to cost $2.5 billion and is being funded by the central bank itself, not taxpayers.

The Fed is self-financing and does not depend on appropriations from Congress to cover its operating expenses, which include employee salaries, facility maintenance and current renovation. Its main income comes from interest earned on public securities and commissions charged to financial institutions.

The Great Atrium of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building during a media tour of the renovation of the central bank’s headquarters in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

In June 2025, Powell told members of the Senate Banking Committee that “There is no new marble. There are no special elevators. They are old elevators that have been there. There are no new water fountains. There are no beehives and there are no garden terraces on the roof.”

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Powell also told lawmakers that no one “wants to do a major renovation of a historic building during his tenure.”

“We decided to take it on because, frankly, when I was the acting governor, before I became president, I understood how badly the Eccles building really needed serious renovation,” Powell said, adding that the building is “not really safe” and not watertight.

The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building is seen as a massive renovation continues to the building and the 1951 Constitution Avenue Building on July 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

He also said the cost overruns are due, in part, to unexpected construction challenges and the country’s inflation rate.

Trump has previously threatened legal action over the renovations and mocked the project’s cost and design.

“They’re building a basement in the Potomac River. I could have told them. It’s very hard to do, it doesn’t work and it’s very expensive,” Trump said. “But it’s up to $4 billion, headed by this clown,” he added in novemberreferring to Powell.

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Meanwhile, Warsh’s confirmation to lead the world’s most powerful central bank could be delayed by Republican opposition linked to Powell’s criminal investigation.

Warsh, but must first be confirmed by a simple majority in the Senate, a process that typically begins with a hearing and vote in the Senate Banking Committee.

Kevin Warsh during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank at IMF headquarters in Washington, DC on April 25, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sen. Thom Tillis, RN.C., said last week that he will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee until the Trump administration concludes its investigation into Powell. Tillis’ resistance carries particular weight given his seat on the Senate Banking Committee.

With Tillis holding on Warsh’s nomination, the only way to force him off the Senate Banking Committee would be through a Senate discharge vote, a move that requires 60 votes and is unlikely in a deeply divided Senate, especially amid tensions over the Powell investigation.