Members of Donald Trump’s team scrambled to provide coherent explanations for the sudden firing of a top official at the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Sunday as Friday’s firing resonated throughout Washington and left the White House open to criticism of Trump’s “authoritarian” leanings.
The US president directed the firing of Erika McEntarfer on Friday after a jobs report showed private companies adding just 73,000 positions in July, a drop from projections and a further sign that the Trump economy is stalling in the face of growing uncertainty around the president’s tariff agenda.
