US is endangered when its leaders are untethered to reality, as Trump is

The Dow Jones plummeted more than 500 points Friday as markets responded to President Donald Trump’s massive worldwide tariffs, an earnings report season in which many companies are starting to report billions in increased expenses and the bleakest jobs report in more than three years.

Yet, as word of the jobs report reached the White House, Trump didn’t take time to question or ponder whether his administration’s policies may have contributed to job losses or the sinking stock market. Instead, he reached for the familiar weapon of retribution. Rather than confronting the deeply troubling economic realities spelled out in black and white by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Trump chose to fire the official responsible for reviewing and approving the publication of the report. Her offense? Telling the truth.

Erika McEntarfer spent more than 20 years as an economist for the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of the Treasury, earning the respect of her colleagues and working her way up the ladder of authority while serving under multiple Democratic and Republican administrations. In January 2024, she became commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

All of that changed Friday, when she found herself cast aside for doing her job. In a social media tirade laced with grievance, paranoia and zero evidence, Trump accused McEntarfer of doctoring the jobs data to hurt him politically.

The numbers are damning, but this is the economy Trump created. The burea is just reporting the facts. In the first six months of Trump’s second term, the economy has produced less than half as many jobs as it did under President Joe Biden’s final six months. From February to July, only 486,000 jobs were created — an anemic average of 81,000 per month compared with Biden’s 175,000. Worth noting: This report also captures more of the effects of the massive layoffs of the federal workforce — and associated private-sector jobs lost — under Trump and Elon Musk’s careening purge of departments. And no, the purge didn’t result in savings: The federal government is spending more than it did last year.

In addition, the bureau revised estimates from the prior two months as firm data arrived that found we lost 258,000 more jobs than the previous estimates. This put the three-month growth rate at just 35,000. It was the biggest two-month downward revision since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a standard practice that has been in place for decades because agencies reporting to the bureau may not have final results available immediately at the end of each month and thus provide initial estimates. If the estimates are incorrect when the final data arrives, revisions are made to prior months to create an accurate record.

These are not partisan numbers. They are data points, collected through long-standing methodologies by career civil servants, not political operatives. Moreover, these numbers and methodologies are intensely studied and reviewed by academics, compared with outside nongovernmental sources and subject to congressional review. While the bureau has recently incorporated some new estimates into its data sets, that’s only because of Trump’s decision to slash the agency’s staff by 8% earlier this year.

Put simply, Trump’s accusation of political manipulation of unemployment numbers is unprecedented. He’s the one politicizing these numbers.

Trump, a man who has long boasted about his business acumen despite multiple bankruptcies, refuses to acknowledge the truth. Instead of adapting, he fires. Instead of course-correcting, he doubles down. And instead of accepting responsibility, he invents conspiracies and blames others.

Americans are paying the price for Trump’s economic delusions. His tariffs — the cornerstone of his “America First” strategy — have stoked inflation and driven up costs, dragging down consumer confidence and now hammering retirement portfolios. Trump’s tariffs are the largest tax increase on the American public and American business in history.

The Dow’s plunge Friday wasn’t a fluke; it was the predictable response to Trump’s chaotic leadership, and it has real consequences. For retirees whose savings depend on a stable market, the value of their hard-earned accounts is evaporating. For the unemployed, the bleak jobs landscape leaves them without income and, thanks to Trump and the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill, without access to temporary assistance unless they meet new, stricter work requirements.

This is a self-inflicted crisis that demands sober analysis and swift course correction, yet the president is purging the messengers and pretending the ship is not sinking.

Such behavior calls into question the president’s capacity to lead in any crisis and the chilling effect this will have on all civil servants will be profound. Who will be willing to submit honest numbers that call for sensible policy responses if the numbers run contrary to Trump’s self-interests? No matter how serious the crisis, who will tell the mad king that he is, in fact, mad?

Moreover, if Trump cannot accept economic data that reflects poorly on him, how can the public trust him to respond honestly and competently in the face of a security threat or looming natural disaster? Will he fire intelligence officials who warn of terrorism? Will he dismiss generals who report troop vulnerabilities? The line between economic fiction and national security fantasy is growing perilously thin.

Indeed, the danger became less hypothetical Friday, when former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, issued a chilling warning: “Watch your words,” he told Trump, while reminding the world of Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal. In a geopolitical landscape that requires measured diplomacy and strategic thinking, Trump’s impulse to lash out only escalates the dangers presented by Medvedev’s threats.

Last October, we raised concerns about Trump’s mental fitness. Citing an analysis by The New York Times which found that Trump’s rally speeches had become increasingly darker, more profane and increasingly unfocused and unhinged, we warned of troubling signs that Trump was no longer able to reason in ways we expect of our leaders. The firing of McEntarfer underscores these concerns and points directly to a president who is unmoored from fact, driven by grievance and willing to punish reality itself for contradicting his fantasies.

Presidents are not elected to control reality. They are elected to confront it. To lead. To serve. To protect. Donald Trump, confronted with facts that challenge his narrative, instead chooses denial and retaliation.

It is time for the American people, lawmakers and, yes, even members of the Republican Party, to ask a hard question: Is this a president willing to change course for the good of the country or one too blinded by ego to steer us away from disaster?