Trump Targets US Institutions: Dismisses Stats Chief, Threatens Powell with Lawsuit

Trump Targets US Institutions Amid Economic Pressure and Political Calculations

Dismisses head of statistics agency, nominates political ally
In a dramatic move late Monday, US President Donald Trump announced via social media that he had fired the head of the national statistics agency just over a week after the release of unexpectedly weak labor market data. In the same post, he confirmed the nomination of the chief economist of the conservative Heritage Foundation — a figure known for his previous public criticism of the agency — as the new leader.

Trump stated that economic data would now be “honest and accurate” because “the US economy is booming,” implying that previous numbers had been misleading or manipulated. The new nominee, in a prior interview before his official nomination, controversially suggested delaying the release of monthly jobs reports until current “problems” are fixed, advocating for the short-term retention of quarterly reports he deemed “more accurate.”

Trump doubles down: Threatens lawsuit against Fed Chair Powell
In a separate development, following the release of mixed US inflation figures, Trump once again took aim at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Not only did he repeat his call for immediate interest rate cuts, but he also reaffirmed plans to initiate a lawsuit against Powell. The suit, Trump claims, would concern alleged mismanagement of renovation projects at the Federal Reserve’s headquarters.

According to Trump, the Fed’s remodeling should have been a "$50 million fix-up,” yet ballooned to $2.5 billion — an amount that had actually been earmarked in advance. Critics argue this is another example of Trump seeking to scapegoat institutions for disappointing economic signals.

Rising concerns over politicization of economic data
Analysts and economists have expressed concern over what appears to be increasing political interference in traditionally independent institutions. The appointment of a partisan figure to lead the statistics agency, along with open threats to the Fed’s leadership, raises red flags about the integrity of future data releases and the independence of monetary policy.

While markets continue to price in rate cuts amid softer inflation data and weakening labor indicators, Trump’s aggressive posture is injecting additional uncertainty ahead of the September Fed meeting and the November presidential election.