US President Donald Trump has spent months attacking the head of the US central bank on social media and in remarks to reporters, calling Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell names like "numbskull".
On Thursday, the dishttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1ljlvg1e7eopute played out in person, with cameras rolling, as the two men clashed over the cost of building renovations.
The tense moment came as Trump has been escalating his pressure on Powell, who Trump says is moving too slowly to cut interest rates.
He has repeatedly floated the possibility of firing Powell, only to quickly disavow the idea, which analysts say would rock financial markets and spark a legal battle.
Trump's visit to the Federal Reserve is the first by a sitting president in roughly two decades.
It comes ahead of the Fed's meeting in Washington next week, where policymakers are widely expected to vote to leave interest rates unchanged.
Speaking to reporters at the start of his tour, Trump said that the administration was "taking a look at what's happening" at the Fed's $2.7bn (£1.8bn) renovation.
"It looks like it's about $3.1bn," Trump said, as Powell shook his head.
"I'm not aware of that," Powell shot back. "I haven't heard that from anybody at the Fed."
Trump then produced a document from his jacket pocket, which Powell briefly read and brusquely handed back to the president, saying that Trump was "adding a third building" to the total.
"It's a building that's been built," Trump said.
Powell responded: "It's a building that was built five years ago... it's not new."
Since the White House press office selected reporters from five pro-Trump, partisan news outlets to ask...
