A black and white photo of Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States, with a reserved smile.

The joy of being JayPhotograph: Getty Images

Jan 14th 2026|Washington, DC|2 min read

The LIST of American institutions that have fought Donald Trump is short. It has just grown by one. On January 9th the Department of Justice (DoJ) served subpoenas to the Federal Reserve relating to a probe into the cost of renovating the central bank’s headquarters. The Fed has met earlier attacks with studied silence. Not this time. Jerome Powell, the Fed’s soft-spoken chair, declared with uncharacteristic ardour that the probe was the result of the bank setting policy based on sound economics “rather than following the preferences of the president”.

Signage for Mizuho Bank Ltd., a unit of Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (MHFG), at one of the bank's branches in Tokyo, Japan.

Jerome Powell punches back