In his second term, Donald Trump has made it clear that data isn’t merely information to be reported, but a narrative to be controlled. If the numbers align with his message, they’re hailed as proof of success. If they don’t, they’re dismissed as fake — or worse, subversive.

His firing of Kristine Joy Suh, head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after a disappointing July jobs report, upended decades of tradition in which BLS commissioners, regardless of who appointed them, were shielded from political retaliation to preserve statistical integrity.

This shift signals more than a partisan impulse. It marks the erosion of institutions designed to uphold objective truth.

For decades, federal statistics have anchored democratic governance, offering policymakers, markets, and the public a sh

See Full Page