The Most Closely Watched Trump Firing in Washington
The Daily
08/05/25
•29m
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For many Americans, the government’s monthly jobs number was a pretty dull statistic — until a few days ago, when President Trump angrily fired the person responsible for producing it, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Now, from Washington to Wall Street, many people are wondering whether you can still trust federal statistics if the president is willing to just get rid of people who give him facts he doesn’t like.
On this episode, Ben Casselman joins The Daily to discuss how the government’s economic data suddenly turned into a national drama.
Guest: Ben Casselman, the chief economics correspondent for The New York Times.
Background reading:
- President Trump fired America’s economic data collector. History shows the perils of such a move.
- Until the president fired her, Erika McEntarfer was an economist with bipartisan support.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Photo: Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Previous Episode
Trump’s Texas Power Grab
August 4, 2025
•27m
In a dramatic act of protest on Sunday, Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives began to flee the state. It is a last-ditch attempt to stop President Trump and Texas Republicans from adopting an aggressively redrawn congressional map that would eliminate Democratic seats — and could help lock in a Republican majority in next year’s elections.
Shane Goldmacher, a Times political correspondent, explains this new chapter in the era of unvarnished partisan warfare.
Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a political correspondent for The New York Times.
Background reading:
- The redrawn map, unveiled by Texas Republicans and pushed by Mr. Trump, puts areas of Houston, Dallas and San Antonio that have incumbent Democrats into districts that would now favor Republicans.
- “We’re leaving Texas to fight for Texans,” Gene Wu, a state representative from Houston and the chair of the Democratic caucus in the Texas House, said in a statement Sunday.
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Next Episode
More Money Was Supposed to Help Poor Kids. So Why Didn’t It?
August 6, 2025
•24m
For many, the logic seemed unassailable: Giving poor families money would measurably improve the lives of their children. And so a few years ago, social scientists set out to test whether that assumption was right.
The results of the experiment have shocked them.
Guest: Jason DeParle, a Times reporter who covers poverty in the United States.
Background reading:
- A rigorous experiment appears to show that monthly checks intended to help disadvantaged children did little for their well-being.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Photo: Andrew Seng for The New York Times
Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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