Trump thought the July job report was going to be better than it actually turned out to be

President Donald Trump expected a stronger July jobs report than the one released, which showed weaker job growth and led to his firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report - AP News
Source: apnews.com

Trump removes official overseeing jobs data after dismal employment report - AP News
Source: apnews.com

At a glance

Key Evidence

Verified August 4, 2025

The July jobs report showed only around 73,000 new jobs added, far below expectations.theguardian.com foxbusiness.com
Trump responded by firing the head of the BLS and accusing the agency of politically motivated data manipulation.investopedia.com apnews.com
Analysts noted that the revisions and weak numbers were not unprecedented or indicative of corruption.cnn.com

The reporting

What the Evidence Shows

Multiple credible sources confirm that President Trump was dissatisfied with the July 2025 jobs report, which indicated significantly weaker job growth than anticipated. The report showed only about 73,000 to 74,000 jobs added in July, with downward revisions to previous months' data, suggesting a slowing labor market. This outcome fell short of expectations and prompted Trump to publicly criticize the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), alleging political bias and calling the data revisions a 'scam' without evidence.

Subsequently, Trump ordered the removal of the BLS commissioner responsible for the report. These actions clearly demonstrate that Trump had anticipated a better jobs report than what was ultimately published.

Primary trail