Josh Boak, Author at The Rapid City Post

Part of an email to Bureau of Labor Statistics employees from William Wiatrowski, obtained by The Associated Press, is photographed Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

‘Crazy!!’: How Labor Statistics staff reacted to Trump firing commissioner after dismal jobs report

August 12, 2025

Staff at the Bureau of Labor Statistics called President Donald Trump’s firing of its commissioner “depressing” and “CRAZY!!” That’s according to emails obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. The emails suggest an agency with little of the corrupting partisanship that Trump had claimed was behind the downward revision of added jobs. Instead, after the commissioner’s firing, BLS employees talked about the importance of accurate numbers and professional integrity in producing data that is foundational for measuring the economy and holding elected officials accountable for how the nation performs.

President Donald Trump holds charts as he speaks about the economy in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump defends the US economy with charts after job reports showed warning signs

August 7, 2025

President Donald Trump has summoned reporters to the Oval Office to present charts that he says shows the economy is solid. This follows a recent jobs report that raised concerns and led to the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Stephen Moore, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, joined Trump to discuss the economy. Moore argued that Trump was right to dismiss the BLS head, citing overestimated job numbers during Joe Biden’s term. Trump aims to reset the economic narrative amid sluggish job growth and rising inflation. Inflation concerns have increased due to Trump’s tariffs.

A customer shops a grain isle at New India Bazar, where most merchandise is imported from India and Canada, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, in Fremont, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Trump’s broad tariffs go into effect, just as economic pain is surfacing

August 6, 2025

President Donald Trump has started imposing higher import taxes on goods from over 60 countries, including the European Union, Japan and South Korea. These tariffs, which began Thursday, are part of Trump’s strategy to reduce the trade deficit and encourage foreign investment in the U.S. However, the economic impact is already visible, with signs of stalled hiring, rising inflation and declining home values. Despite the uncertainty, Trump remains optimistic about economic growth, while many experts warn of potential long-term damage.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Lehigh Valley International Airport, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, in Allentown, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

In rejecting the jobs report, Trump follows his own playbook of discrediting unfavorable data

August 4, 2025

President Donald Trump has a pattern of dismissing or altering data that reflects poorly on him. During his first term, he suggested reducing COVID-19 testing to make the outbreak seem less severe. When he lost the 2020 election, he falsely said the vote count was fraudulent. And on Friday, after a jobs report showed economic distress, he fired the official responsible for the data and called the report “phony.” Critics warn that manipulating data could harm public trust and lead to misguided policies. Experts stress the importance of trustworthy data for government and businesses. Trump has also been accused of inflating his net worth.

Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro points a photo of him during a motorcycle caravan by supporters to protest the Supreme Court trial where he faces charges for alleged involvement in a 2022 coup attempt, in Brasília, Brazil, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Nova)

Trump signs order to justify 50% tariffs on Brazil

July 30, 2025

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to impose his threatened 50% tariffs on Brazil. The order Wednesday sets a legal rationale that Brazil’s policies and criminal prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro constitute an economic emergency under a 1977 law. Trump earlier this month threatened the tariffs on Brazil in a letter to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. But the legal basis of that threat was an earlier executive order premised on trade imbalances being a threat to the U.S. economy. But America ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus last year with Brazil, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell looks over a document of cost figures as President Donald Trump watches during a visit to the Federal Reserve, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Fed chair tells Trump he has his facts wrong on central bank’s renovation costs

July 24, 2025

As president, Donald Trump doesn’t get a lot of pushback, but he got some Thursday from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about the renovation costs of the Fed’s headquarters. Standing in the plywood-sheathed building, Trump claimed the project was over budget at $3.1 billion. Powell disagreed, saying Trump’s number was including a building renovated five years ago and the real number was $2.5 billion. The exchange followed months of criticism by Trump of Powell’s decisions as Fed chair and an accompanying pressure campaign to get the central bank head to step down.

FILE - A sheet of new $1 bills is seen, Nov. 15, 2017, at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

More Americans shift money from checking and savings to accounts with investment income, study says

July 21, 2025

New research finds that more Americans are shifting their money from checking and savings accounts into financial vehicles that pay an investment income. The trend helps to explain the resilience of the U.S. economy after a bout of high inflation and recent uncertainty due to tariffs. The analysis by the JPMorganChase Institute examined the accounts of 4.7 million households. It found that people’s total cash reserves are increasing after including brokerage accounts, money market funds and certificates of deposit to assess people’s well-being. This helps to explain the strong consumer spending even though checking and savings account balances were below historical trends.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney walks with President Donald Trump after a group photo at the G7 Summit, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Kananaskis, Canada. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump plans to hike tariffs on Canadian goods to 35%

July 11, 2025

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will keep working toward a new trade framework with the United States despite U.S. President Donald Trump saying he’ll raise taxes on many imported goods from Canada to 35%. Trump’s move deepens a rift between two North American countries that have suffered a debilitating blow to their decades-old alliance. Trump’s letter Thursday to Carney is an aggressive increase to the top 25% tariff rates the Republican president first imposed in March after months of threats. Carney says through the current trade negotiations with the U.S., Canada has defended its workers and business. Stock market futures are down Friday, a sign Trump’s tariff letters may be concerning investors.

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump’s previous tariff push terrified the world economy. He’s betting this time is different

July 8, 2025

The last time President Donald Trump rolled out tariffs this high, financial markets quaked, consumer confidence crashed and his popularity plunged. Only three months later, he’s betting this time is different. In his new round of tariffs being announced this week, Trump is essentially tethering the entire world economy to his instinctual belief that import taxes will deliver factory jobs and stronger growth in the U.S., rather than the inflation and slowdown predicted by many economists. There are three possible outcomes. Trump could prove most economic experts wrong and the tariffs could deliver growth as promised. Or he could retreat again on tariffs before their Aug. 1 start. Or he could damage the economy.

President Donald Trump speaks during an "Invest in America" roundtable with business leaders at the White House, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump’s tax bill could raise taxes on foreign companies, hurting investment from abroad

June 10, 2025

President Donald Trump likes to say he’s bringing in trillions of dollars in investments from foreign countries. But a provision in his tax cuts bill could cause international companies to avoid expanding into the United States. The House-passed version of the legislation would allow the federal government to impose taxes on foreign-parented companies and investors from countries judged to charge “unfair foreign taxes” on U.S. companies. A new analysis estimates that the provision would cost the U.S. 360,000 jobs and $55 billion annually over 10 years in lost GDP. The analysis estimates that the tax could cut a third off the economic growth anticipated from the overall tax cuts.

Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought speaks to reporters at the White House, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump formally asks Congress to claw back approved spending targeted by DOGE

June 3, 2025

The White House has officially asked Congress to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved spending. The process known as rescission will take funding away from programs targeted by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. It requires President Donald Trump to get approval from Congress to return money that had previously been appropriated. Trump’s aides say the funding cuts target programs that promote liberal ideologies. The request to Congress is unlikely to meaningfully change the troublesome increase in the U.S. national debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the government is on track to spend roughly $7 trillion this year, with the rescission request equaling just 0.1% of that total.

President Donald Trump waves as he departs the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Trump’s big plans on trade and more run up against laws of political gravity, separation of powers

May 29, 2025

President Donald Trump’s big plans on trade, deportations and more are running up against the laws of political gravity and the separation of powers. On Wednesday, a New York court rejected the legal foundation of Trump’s most sweeping tariffs. The setback fit a broader pattern for a president who has advanced an extraordinarily expansive views of executive power. Federal courts have called out the lack of due process in some of Trump’s deportation efforts. His efforts to humble Harvard University and cut the federal workforce have encountered legal obstacles as well. The Trump White House insists it will prevail in the end.

President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump rejects claim he’s ‘chickening out’ on tariffs just because he keeps changing rates

May 28, 2025

President Donald Trump wants the world to know he’s no “chicken” just because he’s repeatedly backed off high tariff threats. The U.S. president’s tendency to levy extremely high import taxes and then retreat has created what’s known as the “TACO” trade. It’s an acronym coined by The Financial Times’ Robert Armstrong that stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” Markets generally sell off when Trump makes his tariff threats and then recover after he backs down. Trump was visibly offended when asked about the phrase Wednesday. He said it’s not “chickening out,” it’s negotiation.

President Donald Trump silences his phone that rang twice as he was speaking to reporters after signing executive orders regarding nuclear energy in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington, as Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth watch. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on EU and 25% penalties on smart phones as his trade war intensifies

May 23, 2025

President Donald Trump is threatening a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union as well as a 25% tariff on smartphones unless the products are made in America. The threats were delivered over social media on Friday. They reflect Trump’s ability to disrupt the global economy with a burst of typing, as well as the reality that his tariffs aren’t producing the sufficient trade deals he’s seeking or the return of domestic manufacturing he’s promised to voters.

How much did Mideast countries promise to invest in the US? Trump keeps jacking up the number

May 20, 2025

President Donald Trump loves big numbers —- and he’s always happy to talk them up. After all, Trump years ago coined the phrase “truthful hyperbole” in his book “The Art of the Deal.” Over the last few days he has been steadily increasing the amount of money he says that countries in the Mideast pledged to invest in the U.S. when he visited the region last week. He didn’t provide underlying details. Based on statements from Trump and the White House, the figure has gone from $2 trillion last week to potentially $7 trillion as of Tuesday.

Josh Boak.