Psst. Come closer. There’s a super-secret and really easy technique for getting around nightmarish news about the state of the nation’s finances. Economists hate it! You simply… don’t publish the figures.
No, really, it’s as simple as that. After all, if you don’t look at the numbers, who’s to really say whether they’re bad or not? Maybe they’re really great? Who could possibly know?
This is the tactic Donald Trump is using to dodge bad press about the state of the American economy under his leadership. This week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis officially confirmed that it will not be publishing the figures for America’s gross domestic product for the third quarter of 2025.
That comes on the back of the Labor Department deciding that, actually, nobody really needs to know that the monthly job figures for the country are, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics quietly shuffling its report on inflation into the trash can.
Insert head into sand and keep it there
Anyone bad with money who’s ever tried to dodge a bill will be familiar with this tactic. You get an angry red envelope in the mail that’s I dunno, probably from a furious creditor you owe money to or something. Sure, you could open it, but the contents are definitely going to harsh your vibe for the day. But then, who’s to say this letter ever arrived? Maybe it just, uh, accidentally fell into the trash. Oops, there it goes! That can be a problem for tomorrow!
If you’re keeping track at home, Trump admin has cancelled:
— Maine (@TheMaineWonk) November 25, 2025
– Jobs Report
– Inflation Report
– GDP Report
I’m sure everything is just fine.
The White House, via shame-free lie machine Karoline Leavitt, has explained that the Trump administration not publishing economic figures is actually the Democrats’ fault. Huh, kinda weird considering they’re not in power right now, but okay.
She says the party that hasn’t been in government since January “may have permanently damaged the federal statistical system” meaning that future economic data “will be permanently impaired” and may not ever be publishable.
How remarkably convenient for them! But until we actually get some data on whether Trump’s genius economic schemes like crippling tariffs, devastating agriculture, draining the country of immigrant labor, and firing anyone who delivers him bad news are good ideas we can’t possibly say if he’s a complete disaster or not.
Perhaps the economy is thriving! Who can possibly say? Let’s stick our heads firmly into the sand and pretend it is!
