WATCH: Trump Debunks Jerome Powell In Surreal Interaction During Fed Tour

A flabbergasted Jerome Powell nearly lost his composure on Thursday after President Donald Trump called him out in front of the Washington, D.C., press corps for sizable cost overruns in the Federal Reserve’s ongoing renovation of its headquarters.

Both men had finished completing a tour of the facility when they arrived in front of the cameras for a debriefing. Trump and Powell wore hard hats, and the Federal Reserve chairman appeared at ease — until Trump pulled a surprise cost estimate out from his suit jacket.

“We’re taking a look, and it looks like it’s about $3.1 billion,” the president declared, looking to Powell for a reaction, and he didn’t disappoint.

Trump kept going. “It went up a little bit. Or a lot,” he smirked as Powell frowned and shook his head.

“I’m not aware of that,” the Fed chair responded, prompting Trump to smile and pull out his surprise estimate.

“It just came out,” Trump said as he unfolded a projection document and handed it to Powell, who gazed in awe at the growing size of the Fed’s budget-busting endeavor.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who accompanied Trump and Powell on their tour, said his estimate concurred with Trump’s.

It was a bitterly humiliating moment for Powell and a reminder that, although Trump’s direct authority over him remains murky, the president is still very adept at finding ways to make his foes publicly uncomfortable. The moment harkened back to his dressing down of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during their first face-to-face meeting in the Oval Office in February.

Like Zelenskyy, Powell was combative, contradicting Trump’s assertion that a third building, completed five years ago, should be included in the project’s total scope.

“You just added in a third building, is what that is,” he replied.

“It’s a building that’s being built,” Trump quipped, causing Powell to throw up his hand and maintain the building was “built five years ago.”

Trump dug further. “It’s part of the overall work.”

“We’re gonna take a look, we’re gonna see what’s happening, and, uh… do you expect any more additional cost overruns?” he asked the Fed chair.

Powell defended his management of the project. “Don’t expect ’em. We’re ready for them,” he answered, citing a reserve fund for such contingencies.

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The moment was a humble one for arguably the most powerful economist in America. He is grappling with tariffs that have shaken his ability to lower interest rates, or so he claims, provoking rage from Trump.

Earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared at a press briefing a handwritten note by Trump and sent to Powell with his morning newspaper.

“‘Jerome, you are as usual ‘too late.’ You have cost the U.S. a fortune and continue to do so. You should lower the rate by a lot. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being lost, and there is no inflation,'” Leavitt read from Trump’s note to Powell.