Every first Friday of the month, Americans get a glimpse of the latest employment statistics. Presidents, however, benefit from an early look — one of the less-discussed perks of power.
This week, Donald Trump put that privilege to dramatic use. Just two hours before the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its dismal report, Trump unloaded a venomous screed on Truth Social, targeting his own Fed chair, Jerome Powell — the man he chose for the role. Trump called Powell a “stubborn MORON” and demanded the Federal Reserve Board override him and “substantially lower interest rates, NOW.”
It wasn’t subtle. Trump had seen the numbers — and he didn’t like them.
Once the figures were made public, the meltdown made more sense. Job growth over the first seven months of the year had plunged to its lowest point in 16 years — a crushing blow to Trump’s relentless boasts about a “hot” economy. The reality is colder: his administration’s chaotic economic stewardship has been undermining the job market for months.
But instead of reckoning with the consequences of his own agenda or offering a coherent policy shift, Trump went nuclear.
Within hours, he ordered the firing of Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. His rationale? She was, allegedly, a “Biden appointee” — though there’s no evidence to support the claim. He also accused McEntarfer of orchestrating a political conspiracy against him during the 2024 campaign. Again, baseless.
In his unhinged tirade, Trump stumbled through economic concepts with reckless confidence, misrepresenting the basic workings of the Labor Department and painting a paranoid fantasy that defied logic — and Economics 101.
Rather than accept responsibility or acknowledge a cooling job market, the former president chose to lash out, torching civil servants and institutions in the process — a familiar playbook for someone who equates accountability with betrayal.