PinnedUpdated July 24, 2025, 10:55 a.m. ETThe New York TimesPresident Trump will make a personal visit to the Federal Reserve on Thursday afternoon as the White House increases its pressure on the Fed chair and seeks any opening to divert attention from its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.The visit, announced by the White House late Wednesday, appeared to be part of the administration’s relentless campaign against the Fed chairman, Jerome H. Powell. He has faced repeated attacks from Mr. Trump and his allies over the Fed’s management of the economy, its unwillingness to lower interest rates and the renovations underway at its headquarters in Washington.Top administration officials had already been scheduled to tour the construction site on Thursday, a concession that the Fed granted them as it sought to deflect criticism of the project. But the Fed received no advance notice of Mr. Trump’s plans.The Fed did not have any immediate comment about the president’s visit, and the published schedule for the trip did not specify if Mr. Trump would meet with Mr. Powell. The White House provided no additional details about the visit beyond that it would last about an hour.Presidents rarely visit the Fed in an official capacity. That is because the central bank seeks to be independent from the White House, a separation that is seen as crucial to ensuring its acts are free of political influence.July 24, 2025, 10:43 a.m. ETPresident Trump decided on the visit to the Fed this week, according to one person briefed on the decision. The central bank was not alerted in advance, the person said.A spokesperson at the Fed said the central bank is working with the White House to accommodate the visit.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesJuly 24, 2025, 10:06 a.m. ETTop administration officials were already scheduled to tour the construction site on Thursday. The Fed has argued that the scope and scale of the renovation project at its headquarters has changed since those plans were released in 2021, although no new official document has yet been published. Rather, the central bank on its website has provided details about which features are included in the most updated version.According to Wednesday’s letter from Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chairman of the banking committee, Fed staff members met with Scott’s team on July 17 for a briefing. The lawmaker is now seeking documents verifying the changes flagged by the Fed, including whether the buildings will include private dining rooms, water fountains and new marble, among other features that lawmakers, and President Trump, have homed in on.July 24, 2025, 9:55 a.m. ETRepublican lawmakers have also kept up their pressure campaign on the Federal Reserve. In a letter to the Fed chairman, Jerome H. Powell, sent on Wednesday, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who leads the powerful Senate Banking Committee, demanded more information about the central bank’s renovations. Scott highlighted what he described as “distinct differences” between what Powell shared during Congressional testimonies in June compared with public plans regarding the project.July 24, 2025, 9:05 a.m. ETBefore President Trump’s visit to the Fed, his administration renewed its pressure campaign on Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair. Appearing on Fox Business, Scott Turner, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, sounded a familiar refrain: “I think that Mr. Powell needs to bring down interest rates, and if he can’t bring them down, then you know what, step down so someone responsible and who cares about the American people can get this economy going.”July 24, 2025, 8:30 a.m. ETPresident Trump’s visit to the Federal Reserve, scheduled for this afternoon, is notable in that presidents rarely visit the Fed in an official capacity. That is because the central bank seeks to be independent from the White House. That separation is seen as crucial to ensure that the Fed is setting interest rates free of political influence.The president’s last direct interaction with Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, was in late May when they had a private meeting at the White House at Trump’s request. They discussed the economy, but Powell did not share any expectations for monetary policy, according to the central bank. He instead told Trump that decisions about interest rates would “depend entirely on incoming economic information” and would be “based solely on careful, objective and nonpolitical analysis.”Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York TimesJuly 24, 2025, 12:14 a.m. ETPresident Trump’s visit signifies an escalation in his pressure campaign against the Fed.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesPresident Trump will visit the Federal Reserve on Thursday, increasing the administration’s pressure on the central bank after attacks over its management of the economy and renovations underway at its headquarters in Washington.Mr. Trump is set to go there at 4 p.m. Eastern time, according to a daily schedule published by White House late Wednesday. No additional details were given about the visit beyond that it would last about an hour. It did not specify whether Mr. Trump would be meeting with Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair and the primary target of the president’s repeated attacks on the central bank.A spokesperson at the Fed said the central bank was working with the White House to accommodate the visit. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.Mr. Trump decided on the visit this week, according to one person briefed on the decision. The Fed was not alerted in advance, the person said.Top administration officials were already scheduled to tour the construction site on Thursday, a concession that was granted to them by the Fed as it has sought to deflect criticism of the project, which involves a pair of buildings that are close to 100 years old and undergoing a roughly $2.5 billion revamp.In recent days, the central bank has published a virtual tour of the construction site, including footage of asbestos caulking being removed and blast-resistant windows being installed. It has also specified where certain features, like a rooftop terrace for staff, have been scaled back.Mr. Trump’s visit signifies an escalation in his pressure campaign against the Fed. Presidents do not typically go to the central bank in an official capacity, reflecting the longstanding independence of the institution from the White House.The president’s last direct interaction with Mr. Powell was in late May when they had a private meeting at the White House. The meeting, which was organized at Mr. Trump’s request, was their first since the president returned to the White House.At the time, they discussed the economy but Mr. Powell did not share any expectations for monetary policy, according to the central bank. The Fed chair instead told Mr. Trump that decisions about interest rates would “depend entirely on incoming economic information and what that means for the outlook” and would be “based solely on careful, objective and nonpolitical analysis.”Republican lawmakers have also piled on the pressure in recent days. In a letter to Mr. Powell on Wednesday, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who chairs the powerful Senate Banking Committee, demanded more information about the central bank’s renovations, after a briefing with Fed staff on July 17.Mr. Scott highlighted what he described as “distinct differences” between public plans regarding the project and what Mr. Powell shared during congressional testimonies in June as well as information the Fed posted on its website.The lawmaker is now seeking documents verifying changes flagged by the Fed, including whether the buildings will include private dining rooms, water fountains and new marble, among other features that have drawn attention. Mr. Scott called on Mr. Powell to respond by Aug. 8, “to effectuate your pledge to transparency.”Since returning to office, Mr. Trump and his top aides have been relentless in their criticism of Mr. Powell, who has resisted the president’s demands so far this year to significantly lower interest rates.The Fed paused interest rate cuts in January after a series of reductions at the end of last year, a move that Mr. Trump on Wednesday branded as “political.”“Our economy is so strong now, we’re blowing through everything, we’re setting records,” he said in the Oval Office. “People aren’t able to buy a house because this guy is a numbskull, he keeps the rates too high, and probably is doing it for political reasons.”The president claimed that Mr. Powell had cut rates “just before the election to try to help Kamala, or whoever he was trying to help, he probably didn’t know.”He has called for interest rates to be about 3 percentage points lower, or around 1 percent, a level that is typically associated with an economic downturn. He has also tied the need for lower borrowing costs to the country having to spend less on financing its deficit, a reason completely at odds with how the Fed typically sets monetary policy.The Fed is widely expected to again keep interest rates steady when it meets next week.Mr. Trump’s ire with Mr. Powell has grown so acute that he has openly toyed with firing him, which would likely cause chaos in financial markets and would be legally fraught. A president is limited in his ability to remove a Fed chair without there being evidence of extreme misconduct or other forms of “cause.”Legal experts view the administration’s focus on the Fed’s renovations as a potential avenue to establish that cause.Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, on Wednesday called on Mr. Powell to either be fired or to resign. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has taken a more moderate stance, saying there was nothing to suggest that the chair needed to immediately step down, even as he called on the central bank to conduct an “exhaustive internal review of its non-monetary policy operations.”Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.July 23, 2025, 5:21 p.m. ETMr. Trump at a reception at the White House on Tuesday. He has tried to distract from the outcry over his administration’s handling of the Epstein files. Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesThroughout his political career, President Trump has perfected his ability to command media attention through incendiary statements and made-for-headlines announcements. He has also mastered shifting blame to his subordinates and political opponents, turning the public spotlight to his benefit.But the last two weeks have tested this well-worn strategy as Mr. Trump has tried to pivot attention away from his administration’s decision to close the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. He has also sought to distance himself from Mr. Epstein after new reports in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times detailed their past relationship.Here’s a timeline of the president’s remarks on the scandal, and his various approaches to move on from it:July 22In his most recent attempts to redirect the conversation from Mr. Epstein, the president has unleashed a barrage of attacks against former President Barack Obama — an old but reliable target for Mr. Trump. For years, Mr. Trump promoted the lie that Mr. Obama was not legitimately elected because he was not born in the United States, a publicity stunt that significantly raised his profile in the Republican Party ahead of his 2016 run for president.On Tuesday, during a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines on trade issues, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Obama of treason, and said that the time had come for his opponents to face criminal charges.Videotranscriptbars0:00/0:28-0:00transcriptMr. Trump resurfaced his grievances against former President Barack Obama following a meeting with the president of the Philippines in the Oval Office on Tuesday.The witch hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama absolutely cold. Tulsi Gabbard — what they did to this country in 2016, starting in 2016, but going up all the way, going up to 2020 and the election, they tried to rig the election and they got caught. And there should be very severe consequences for that. Whether it’s right or wrong, it’s time to go after people. Obama has been caught directly.Mr. Trump resurfaced his grievances against former President Barack Obama following a meeting with the president of the Philippines in the Oval Office on Tuesday.Later that evening, during a reception with Republican members of Congress, Mr. Trump renewed his attacks against Mr. Obama, falsely claiming he had used deception in the 2016 election. He also plainly stated his intent to use the attacks against the former president as a means to distract reporters and deflect from negative news coverage, suggesting to his fellow Republicans that they respond to “inappropriate” questions by reporters by saying, “Oh by the way, Obama cheated on the election.”July 20On Sunday, Mr. Trump spent the day posting on social media about pretty much everything other than Mr. Epstein. He started by celebrating strong poll numbers, then went on to urge the Washington Commanders football team to take back its old name, the Redskins. (In another post, he threatened to derail a deal for the N.F.L. team to build a new stadium in Washington, D.C., if it did not comply.)8:07 AMMy Poll Numbers within the Republican Party, and MAGA, have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax was exposed by the Radical Left Democrats and, just plain “troublemakers.”10:17 AMThe Washington “Whatever’s” should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team.Later that afternoon, he resorted to attacking longtime political foes such as Senator Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, and posted a fake video of Mr. Obama being arrested in the Oval Office. He also posted a three-minute compilation video of stunts. An hour later, he was back to political attacks, this time targeting Samantha Power, the former administrator of U.S.A.I.D.2:03 PMAdam Schiff is a THIEF! He should be prosecuted, just like they tried to prosecute me, and everyone else.6:47 PMThe A.I.-generated video reposted on Mr. Trump’s Truth Social account appears to be manipulated footage of an Oval Office meeting in November 2016 between President Barack Obama and Mr. Trump.Credit...@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social7:56 PMHOW DID SAMANTHA POWER MAKE ALL OF THAT MONEY???July 17Following The Wall Street Journal’s report that Mr. Trump sent a letter with a lewd drawing to Mr. Epstein for his birthday decades ago, Mr. Trump fired off a number of posts on Truth Social that follow a well-worn playbook for responding to reporting he disagrees with: Deny, attack and threaten to sue.8:33 PMThe Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued.First, Mr. Trump declared the report fake and threatened to sue, which he did the very next day. He also offered a concession for those in his base who have been demanding the release of all information about the Epstein case:9:07 PMBased on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!Many of Mr. Trump’s supporters had been openly flirting with revolt, which could be one reason he also directed Pam Bondi, the attorney general, to seek the public release of grand jury testimony from the prosecution of Mr. Epstein. In his post, Mr. Trump made it clear that he still thought this was unnecessary. (A federal judge in Florida denied the administration’s request on Wednesday.)In his last post that evening, Mr. Trump primarily reiterated his first post, although he included an interesting denial: “I don’t draw pictures.”9:57 PMThe Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.Mr. Trump regularly donated drawings to charities in New York in the early 2000s. Moreover, the drawings, many of which appear to be done with a thick, black marker and prominently feature his signature, are not dissimilar to how The Journal describes the image on the birthday note to Mr. Epstein.A drawing by Mr. Trump of the Empire State Building for a charity auction in 1995.Credit...Paul Buck/EPA, via ShutterstockJuly 16After becoming increasingly exasperated by reporters’ questions about Mr. Epstein’s death, as well as attacks on Ms. Bondi, Mr. Trump went from gently coaxing his supporters to move on from the case to actively attacking those who continued to speak out about it. He castigated them as “weaklings” and disavowed them as “PAST supporters” that “have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker.”9:43 AMI have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country’s history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!Later that day, he also made an announcement that took Coca-Cola by surprise.4:19 PMI have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola would not immediately comment on whether it had agreed to do so, and Mr. Trump’s version of events ultimately proved somewhat misleading. On an earnings call days later, the company said that it would begin offering a cane-sugar version of Coke in the United States this fall “to complement the company’s strong core portfolio.” But it is not replacing high-fructose corn syrup in existing products.July 12Mr. Trump defended Ms. Bondi, and his administration’s decision to close the Epstein investigation, during a cabinet meeting earlier this month.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times5:21 PMWhat’s going on with my “boys” and, in some cases, “gals?” They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening.After days of bruising attacks on Ms. Bondi from influencers within Mr. Trump’s far-right political coalition for failing to produce promised new evidence on Mr. Epstein’s death, Mr. Trump addressed his supporters directly, wondering aloud why they were choosing to undermine his administration by going after one of his own top officials.The post came after a simmering battle between Ms. Bondi and Dan Bongino, the deputy head of the F.B.I., burst into public view over the Epstein case.