Trump orders nuclear submarines moved after Russian ‘provocative statements’
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Trump admits that firing the central bank chief would destabilize the market
Trump fires US labor official over data and gets earlier than expected chance to reshape Fed. The benchmark S&P 500 Index sank 1.6 percent in its largest daily drop in more than two months. Trump accused Erika McEntarfer, appointed by former President Joe Biden, of faking the jobs numbers. There is no evidence to back Trump’s claims of data manipulation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.“Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act,” said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute’“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. The two developments further rattled a stock market already reeling from his latest barrage of tariff announcements and the weak jobs data. The BLS has already reduced the sample collection for consumer price data as well as the producer price report.
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: President Donald Trump on Friday fired a top Labor Department official on the heels of a market-shocking weak scorecard of the US job market, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the figures and adding to already growing concerns about the quality of economic data published by the federal government.
In a second surprise economic policy development, the door for Trump to make an imprint on a Federal Reserve with which he clashes almost daily for not lowering interest rates opened much earlier than anticipated when Fed Governor Adriana Kugler unexpectedly announced her resignation on Friday afternoon.
The two developments further rattled a stock market already reeling from his latest barrage of tariff announcements and the weak jobs data. The benchmark S&P 500 Index sank 1.6 percent in its largest daily drop in more than two months.
HIGH LIGHTS • Trump claims in social media post that jobs numbers were rigged • No evidence to back Trump’s claims • Fed Governor Kugler resigns, giving Trump an early chance for an appointment • Economists already have growing concerns about US data quality
Trump accused Erika McEntarfer, appointed by former President Joe Biden, of faking the jobs numbers. There is no evidence to back Trump’s claims of data manipulation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the statistical agency that compiles the closely watched employment report as well as consumer and producer price data.
A representative for the BLS did not respond to a request for comment.
Friday began with BLS reporting the US economy created only 73,000 jobs in July, but more stunning were net downward revisions showing 258,000 fewer jobs had been created in May and June than previously reported.
“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
DATA CONCERNS
A Trump administration official who requested anonymity said that while all economic data is noisy, the White House has been dissatisfied with how large the revisions have been in the recent data and issues with lower survey responses. The problem started during COVID and has not been addressed in the years since.
“There are these underlying problems that have been festering here for years now that have not been rectified,” the person said. “The markets and companies and the government need accurate data, and like, we just weren’t getting that,” the official said.
The BLS has already reduced the sample collection for consumer price data as well as the producer price report, citing resource constraints. The government surveys about 121,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 631,000 individual worksites for the employment report.
The response rate has declined from 80.3 percent in October 2020 to about 67.1 percent in July, BLS data shows.
A Reuters poll last month found 89 of 100 top policy experts had at least some worries about the quality of US economic data, with most also concerned that authorities are not addressing the issue urgently enough.
In addition to the concerns over job market data, headcount reductions at BLS have resulted in it scaling back the scope of data collection for the Consumer Price Index, one of the most important gauges of US inflation, watched by investors and policymakers worldwide.
Trump’s move fed into concerns that politics may influence data collection and publication.
“Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act,” said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute’s Roosevelt Forward.
“Credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild, and the credibility of America’s economic data is the foundation on which we’ve built the strongest economy in the world. Blinding the public about the state of the economy has a long track record, and it never ends well.”
FED CHANGE SOONER THAN EXPECTED
Meanwhile, Kugler’s surprise decision to leave the Fed at the end of next week presents Trump an earlier-than-expected opportunity to install a potential successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the central bank’s Board of Governors.
Trump has threatened to fire Powell repeatedly because the Fed chief has overseen a policymaking body that has not cut interest rates as Trump has demanded. Powell’s term expires next May, although he could remain on the Fed board until January 31, 2028, if he chooses.
Trump will now get to select a Fed governor to replace Kugler and finish out her term, which expires on January 31, 2026. A governor filling an unexpired term may then be reappointed to a full 14-year term.
Some speculation has centered on the idea Trump might pick a potential future chair to fill that slot as a holding place. Leading candidates for the next Fed chair include Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and Fed Governor Chris Waller, a Trump appointee who this week dissented with the central bank’s decision to keep rates on hold, saying he preferred to start lowering them now.
Trump, as he was leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate, said he was happy to have the open slot to fill.
“I would not read any political motivation into what [Kugler is] doing, although the consequence of what she’s doing is she’s calling Trump’s bluff,” said Derek Tang, an analyst at LH Meyer, a research firm. “She’s putting the ball in his court and saying, look, you’re putting so much pressure on the Fed, and you want some control over nominees, well, here’s a slot.”
Live updates: Trump dismisses Labor Dept. official following weak jobs report; markets drop on employment data and tariffs news
Former CIA analyst Michael Van Landingham said he and his colleagues were not under any orders to reach a certain conclusion in their assessment. He said that the assessment was based on both credible intelligence reports and publicly available information.
In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Michael Van Landingham, said he and his colleagues were not under any orders to reach a certain conclusion in their assessment.
Landingham said that the assessment was based on both credible intelligence reports and publicly available information — including state media coverage and statements by government officials.
The assessment found that Russia was waging an information war to undermine Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and that President Vladimir Putin wanted to see Trump prevail.
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Trump says he has heard India will stop buying Russian oil
Trump fires US labor official over data and gets earlier than expected chance to reshape Fed. The benchmark S&P 500 Index sank 1.6 percent in its largest daily drop in more than two months. Trump accused Erika McEntarfer, appointed by former President Joe Biden, of faking the jobs numbers. There is no evidence to back Trump’s claims of data manipulation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.“Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act,” said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute’“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. The two developments further rattled a stock market already reeling from his latest barrage of tariff announcements and the weak jobs data. The BLS has already reduced the sample collection for consumer price data as well as the producer price report.
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: President Donald Trump on Friday fired a top Labor Department official on the heels of a market-shocking weak scorecard of the US job market, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the figures and adding to already growing concerns about the quality of economic data published by the federal government.
In a second surprise economic policy development, the door for Trump to make an imprint on a Federal Reserve with which he clashes almost daily for not lowering interest rates opened much earlier than anticipated when Fed Governor Adriana Kugler unexpectedly announced her resignation on Friday afternoon.
The two developments further rattled a stock market already reeling from his latest barrage of tariff announcements and the weak jobs data. The benchmark S&P 500 Index sank 1.6 percent in its largest daily drop in more than two months.
HIGH LIGHTS • Trump claims in social media post that jobs numbers were rigged • No evidence to back Trump’s claims • Fed Governor Kugler resigns, giving Trump an early chance for an appointment • Economists already have growing concerns about US data quality
Trump accused Erika McEntarfer, appointed by former President Joe Biden, of faking the jobs numbers. There is no evidence to back Trump’s claims of data manipulation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the statistical agency that compiles the closely watched employment report as well as consumer and producer price data.
A representative for the BLS did not respond to a request for comment.
Friday began with BLS reporting the US economy created only 73,000 jobs in July, but more stunning were net downward revisions showing 258,000 fewer jobs had been created in May and June than previously reported.
“We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
DATA CONCERNS
A Trump administration official who requested anonymity said that while all economic data is noisy, the White House has been dissatisfied with how large the revisions have been in the recent data and issues with lower survey responses. The problem started during COVID and has not been addressed in the years since.
“There are these underlying problems that have been festering here for years now that have not been rectified,” the person said. “The markets and companies and the government need accurate data, and like, we just weren’t getting that,” the official said.
The BLS has already reduced the sample collection for consumer price data as well as the producer price report, citing resource constraints. The government surveys about 121,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 631,000 individual worksites for the employment report.
The response rate has declined from 80.3 percent in October 2020 to about 67.1 percent in July, BLS data shows.
A Reuters poll last month found 89 of 100 top policy experts had at least some worries about the quality of US economic data, with most also concerned that authorities are not addressing the issue urgently enough.
In addition to the concerns over job market data, headcount reductions at BLS have resulted in it scaling back the scope of data collection for the Consumer Price Index, one of the most important gauges of US inflation, watched by investors and policymakers worldwide.
Trump’s move fed into concerns that politics may influence data collection and publication.
“Politicizing economic statistics is a self-defeating act,” said Michael Madowitz, principal economist at the Roosevelt Institute’s Roosevelt Forward.
“Credibility is far easier to lose than rebuild, and the credibility of America’s economic data is the foundation on which we’ve built the strongest economy in the world. Blinding the public about the state of the economy has a long track record, and it never ends well.”
FED CHANGE SOONER THAN EXPECTED
Meanwhile, Kugler’s surprise decision to leave the Fed at the end of next week presents Trump an earlier-than-expected opportunity to install a potential successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the central bank’s Board of Governors.
Trump has threatened to fire Powell repeatedly because the Fed chief has overseen a policymaking body that has not cut interest rates as Trump has demanded. Powell’s term expires next May, although he could remain on the Fed board until January 31, 2028, if he chooses.
Trump will now get to select a Fed governor to replace Kugler and finish out her term, which expires on January 31, 2026. A governor filling an unexpired term may then be reappointed to a full 14-year term.
Some speculation has centered on the idea Trump might pick a potential future chair to fill that slot as a holding place. Leading candidates for the next Fed chair include Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and Fed Governor Chris Waller, a Trump appointee who this week dissented with the central bank’s decision to keep rates on hold, saying he preferred to start lowering them now.
Trump, as he was leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, estate, said he was happy to have the open slot to fill.
“I would not read any political motivation into what [Kugler is] doing, although the consequence of what she’s doing is she’s calling Trump’s bluff,” said Derek Tang, an analyst at LH Meyer, a research firm. “She’s putting the ball in his court and saying, look, you’re putting so much pressure on the Fed, and you want some control over nominees, well, here’s a slot.”
Trump orders deployment of 2 nuclear submarines near Russia
US to deploy 2 nuclear submarines near Russia: Trump warns of ‘unintended consequences’ after ex-President Medvedev’s threat of war. US President Donald Trump shared the news of this decision on his social media platform, Truth Social. He blamed former Russian President Dmitry Medvede’s provocative statements for prompting this move. Trump has expressed his displeasure with Russia several times, though he has consistently avoided directly criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin. He warned that if Russia did not agree to ceasefire talks within that time, countries doing business with Russia would face “secondary tariffs” on their exports to Russia. He also warned that Russia has had the capability for a nuclear retaliatory strike, known as “Dead Hand,” since the Soviet era.
International
Trump Orders Deployment Of 2 Nuclear Submarines Near Russia
US to deploy 2 nuclear submarines near Russia: Trump warns of ‘unintended consequences’ after ex-President Medvedev’s threat
Washington DC 13 minutes ago
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US President Donald Trump shared the decision on the social media site Truth.
Amid rising tensions with Russia, US President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines near Russia and warned of serious consequences. However, he did not specify where the submarines would be stationed.
Trump shared the news of this decision on his social media platform, Truth Social. He blamed former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s provocative statements for prompting this move.
Earlier, on July 28 during his visit to Scotland, Trump had announced that Russia had 10 to 12 days to end the Ukraine war. He warned that if Russia did not agree to ceasefire talks within that time, countries doing business with Russia would face “secondary tariffs.”
In fact, Medvedev had posted on X, saying, “We are not Israel or Iran. Every new ultimatum from Trump will be considered a threat of war.” He reminded Trump that Russia has had the capability for a nuclear retaliatory strike, known as “Dead Hand,” since the Soviet era.
Now read Trump’s social media post
Trump calls it a ‘dead economy’, Russia reminds him of ‘Dead Hand’
On 30 July, after imposing a 25% tariff on India, former US President Donald Trump labelled both India and Russia as “dead economies”. He said, “If India and Russia want to sink their economies together, I don’t care.”
In response, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Trump was clearly panicking. Writing on Telegram, Medvedev stated, “Trump should remember the terrifying power of the Dead Hand, even if it no longer exists. If a few words from a former Russian president can rattle the President of the United States, then Russia is clearly on the right path. We will continue moving forward.”
The “Dead Hand” was an old Soviet-era nuclear command-and-control system designed to launch a retaliatory strike even if the country’s leadership had been wiped out.
Trump calls Medvedev a failed former president
Earlier, Dmitry Medvedev had criticised Trump, warning that the US president’s threats to Russia could ignite a full-scale war—not just between Russia and Ukraine, but between Russia and the US. He had also advised Trump not to follow in the footsteps of “Sleepy Joe” (Joe Biden).
In response, late Thursday night, Trump lashed out at Medvedev, calling him a “failed former president” who still imagines himself in power. Trump warned Medvedev to watch his words and refrain from making reckless statements.
Dmitry Medvedev is considered a staunch supporter of President Putin. He is currently the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council. Medvedev has been the President of Russia from 2008 to 2012 and the Prime Minister of Russia from 2012 to 2020.
Trump has expressed his displeasure with Russia several times, though he has consistently avoided directly criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin. A few days ago, he said, “I have good phone conversations with Putin, but just a few hours later, Russia launches attacks on Ukraine. That disappoints me. Still, Putin is someone I can establish a good rapport with.”
Trump orders two nuclear subs to be moved closer to Russia
Donald Trump says he has ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the “appropriate regions” in a row with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. It comes after Mr Medvede told the US president on Thursday to remember Moscow had Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort. The spat came after Mr Trump warned Russia on Tuesday it had “10 days from today” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face tariffs, along with its oil buyers.Moscow has shown no sign that it will agree to Mr Trump’s demands, and has refused to back down on the Ukraine crisis.
It comes after Mr Medvedev, who is now deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, told the US president on Thursday to remember Moscow had Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort.
On Friday, Mr Trump wrote on social media: “Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Speaking outside the White House later in the day, Mr Trump was asked about why he had moved the submarines and replied: “We had to do that. We just have to be careful.
“A threat was made and we didn’t think it was appropriate, so I have to be very careful. So I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia and we’re going to protect our people.”
The spat between Mr Trump and Mr Medvedev came after the US president warned Russia on Tuesday it had “10 days from today” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face tariffs, along with its oil buyers.
Moscow has shown no sign that it will agree to Mr Trump’s demands.
Read more:
Who are the winners (if any) and losers of Trump’s tariffs?
On Thursday, Mr Medvedev reminded Mr Trump that Russia possessed a Soviet-era automated nuclear retaliatory system – or “dead hand”.
Mr Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was referring to a secretive semi-automated Soviet command system designed to launch Russia’s missiles if its leadership was taken out in a decapitating strike.
He made the remarks after Mr Trump told him to “watch his words” after Mr Medvedev said the US president’s threat of hitting Russia and its oil buyers with punitive tariffs was “a game of ultimatums” and added that “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war” between Russia and the US.
Mr Medvedev served as Russia’s president from 2008 and 2012, when Mr Putin was barred from seeking a third consecutive term, but then stepped aside to let him run again.
As deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, he has become known for his provocative and inflammatory statements since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
(c) Sky News 2025: Trump orders two nuclear subs to be moved closer to Russia