Washington, DC newsletter icon
From Semafor Washington, DC
In your inbox, every weekday
Sign up

Exclusive / Trump opens door to alternative Fed renovation probe

Eleanor Mueller
Eleanor Mueller
White House Economic Policy Reporter, Semafor
Apr 24, 2026, 5:11am EDT
PostEmailWhatsapp
Donald Trump
Kylie Cooper/Reuters

As Republicans urge Trump to scrap federal prosecutors’ investigation of the Federal Reserve’s ongoing renovation, President Donald Trump signaled he may accept a different probe.

Asked by Semafor Thursday if someone outside the Justice Department could get the answers he sought, Trump said: “[They] could. I mean, look, it’s pretty easy.”

Senators — and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — have floated congressional investigations in place of US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s in order for Sen Thom Tillis, R-N.C., to stop his blockade of Kevin Warsh’s nomination.

“You have to find out what went wrong,” Trump said in response to a different question. “It was beautiful, and they ripped it down, and probably because it cost so much to fix it.”

Though Trump didn’t mention Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s involvement with the project, he still took a swing: “On top of that, he’s been terrible on interest rates.”

AD