(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump arrived at the Federal Reserve's headquarters in Washington on Thursday to tour the site of a $2.5 billion renovation of two historical buildings the White House criticizes as overly costly and ostentatious, as tensions escalate between the administration and the independent overseer of the nation's monetary policy.

The rare presidential visit to the Fed is happening less than a week before the central bank's 19 policymakers gather for a two-day rate-setting meeting, where they are widely expected to leave the U.S. central bank's benchmark interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range. Trump has demanded that the Fed lower rates by 3 percentage points.