Trump dismisses Labor Dept. official following weak jobs report; markets drop on employment data and tariffs news
This version of Trump Gaza Trade Deals Tariffs Deadline Live Updates Rcna221379 - Politics and Government | NBC News Clone was adapted by NBC News Clone to help readers digest key facts more efficiently.
Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after the agency released the jobs report for July and made downward revisions to the previous three months.
Highlights from Aug. 1, 2025
- STOCKS TUMBLE: U.S. stock indexes fell on the combination of new tariff rates for U.S. trading partners that have not made deals with President Donald Trump and employment figures that revealed weakness in the labor market stretching back into the spring.
- WEAK JOBS REPORT: Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics hours after the government agency reported that hiring in the U.S. slowed significantly over the past three months.
- NUCLEAR SUBS: Trump said he was positioning two nuclear submarines following “highly provocative” statements by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev regarding the country’s nuclear capabilities.
Trump says he is unlikely to pardon Sean Combs, citing rapper's 'hostile' attitude during his presidential campaign
Trump said during tonight's Newsmax interview that he was unlikely to pardon Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying that the musician who was convicted on two counts during his federal sexual abuse trial was "very hostile" during Trump's presidential campaign.
“I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great, and he seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well, but when I ran for office, he was very hostile," Trump said during the interview.
Combs was "sort of half innocent," Trump said, "I guess it wasn't as good as a victory."
Combs was acquitted this month of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking but was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution in connection with his federal trial on sexual abuse against women.
Asked if pardoning Combs was probably a no, Trump said: “I would say so, yeah.”
Trump in May said he would "certainly look at the facts" in Combs' case, and did not rule out a pardon.
Without discussing the nature of the case or the trial, Trump zeroed in on his perception of Combs' hostility toward him during his presidential campaign.
"We don't like to have things cloud our judgment, right? But when you knew someone, and you were fine, and then you run for office, and he made some terrible statements," Trump told Newsmax. "So I don't know, it's more difficult. It makes it more -- I'm being honest, it makes it more difficult to do."
Trump did not provide details on the statements he attributed to Combs.
In recent months, Trump has pardoned other celebrities like reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley and rapper NBA YoungBoy.
Former CIA analyst defends intel assessment on Russian election interference
A former CIA analyst who helped write the 2017 intelligence assessment about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election has defended the report’s findings and rejected accusations that it was a politically motivated effort.
In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Michael Van Landingham, said he and his colleagues were not under any orders to reach a certain conclusion in their assessment.
Landingham said that the assessment was based on both credible intelligence reports and publicly available information -- including state media coverage and statements by government officials.
The assessment found that Russia was waging an information war to undermine Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and that President Vladimir Putin wanted to see Trump prevail.
“So, over time, looking at those things, having a high-quality, clandestine source telling you that Putin was counting on Trump’s victory, having members of the Russian state saying Trump would be better to work with because of his views on Russia that don’t represent the U.S. establishment, all of those things gave us high confidence that Putin wanted Trump to win,” Landingham said.
He added that a year later, Putin publicly confirmed at a press conference in Helsinki that he had wanted to see Trump prevail over Clinton.
A former senior CIA officer who helped oversee the assessment, Susan Miller, also has defended it. She told NBC News last week that the Trump administration was “lying” when it claimed there was a plot to fabricate intelligence to sabotage Trump.
A bipartisan 2020 Senate intelligence committee investigation endorsed the conclusions of the 2017 intelligence assessment.
Trump says Hegseth is a 'great guy' when asked about potential bid for Tennessee governor
Trump said that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a "great guy" when asked during a Newsmax interview that aired tonight about Hegseth's potential bid to seek political office in Tennessee next year.
"He's great guy. I'd be disappointed, though, I think he's doing a good job where he is," Trump said.
NBC News reported this week that according to two people who have spoken directly with Hegseth about the idea, Hegseth has privately discussed a run for governor in the state which has an open governor's race during next year's midterm elections.
A Pentagon spokesman previously denied that Hegseth was considering a run, telling NBC News in a statement that Hegseth's "focus remains solely on serving under President Trump.”
Trump says nobody has asked him to pardon Maxwell, and he doesn't know anything about the case
Trump said during an interview that aired tonight on Newsmax that he has the authority to give a pardon to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but claimed he doesn't "know anything about the case."
"I’m allowed to do it, but nobody’s asked me to do it," Trump said when asked about using his pardon power for Maxwell. "I know nothing about it. I don’t know anything about the case, but I know I have the right to do it."
Trump’s comments are similar to those made when asked last week about pardoning Maxwell, saying then that he hadn’t thought about it and that he’s aware that he is “allowed to do it.”
Maxwell is currently serving 20 years in prison after she was convicted in 2021 in connection with recruiting and sex-trafficking minors.
The family of Virginia Giuffre, who was abused by Epstein and died of suicide earlier this year, urged Trump not to pardon Maxwell, saying that to extend clemency to Epstein's co-conspirator would be remembered as “one of the highest travesties of justice” in history.
Republican-led House committee postpones Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition
Congressional testimony by Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator and confidant Ghislaine Maxwell previously scheduled for mid-August will be postponed until at least October, the chair of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee indicated in a letter today.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said in the letter obtained by NBC News that the committee would consider next steps after the Supreme Court in late September decides whether it will review Maxwell’s conviction as a sex offender.
The committee subpoenaed Maxwell for a deposition last month and scheduled it for Aug. 11, citing the “immense public interest and scrutiny” surrounding her case and Epstein’s.
In Friday’s letter, Comer reiterated his desire to interview Maxwell, calling her testimony “vital to the Committee’s efforts regarding Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, including the 2007 non-prosecution agreement and the circumstances surrounding Mr. Epstein’s death.”
Supreme Court raises the stakes in a Louisiana redistricting case
The Supreme Court today expanded the scope of a Louisiana congressional redistricting dispute that has been pending for months by ordering new briefing on a legal question that could further weaken the landmark Voting Rights Act.
The court issued an order asking the lawyers to address whether, in seeking to comply with the 1965 law that protects minority voting rights, Louisiana violated the Constitution’s 14th and 15th Amendments enacted after the Civil War to ensure Black people were treated equally under the law.
If the court rules that the state did violate the Constitution, it would mean states cannot cite the need to comply with the Voting Rights Act if they use race as a consideration during the map-drawing process, as they currently can.
Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the UCLA School of Law. wrote on his Election Law Blog that the order “appears to put the constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act into question.” That provision bars voting practices or rules that discriminate against minority groups.
Vance 'completely aligned' with Trump on firing of labor statistics boss
Vice President JD Vance is "completely aligned" with Trump's decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer despite once voting for her confirmation, Vance's spokesperson said.
"President Trump has the right to hire and fire the people he wants to staff the government he was elected in a landslide to run," William Martin, a Vance spokesperson, said.
Vance was among the Senate Republicans who voted to confirm McEntarfer in 2024 after she was nominated to her post by President Joe Biden. She received overwhelming bipartisan support in the vote at the time, 86-8.
"The only thing his confirmation vote indicates is that he was at times willing to let nominations move forward even when he disagreed with them," Martin said.
Trump comments on 'open spot' at Fed after Biden nominee resigns
Trump commented today on the resignation of Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler, which gives him the chance to nominate a replacement.
“We just found out that I have a open spot on the Federal Reserve Board," Trump said.
Kugler did not cite a reason for her departure in a letter to Trump that said she was “honored to have served during a critical time in achieving our dual mandate of bringing down prices and keeping a strong and resilient labor market.”
Kugler is set to return this fall to Georgetown University, according to a news release, where she has worked previously in several positions.
Her term was set to end in January.
Trump defends firing of labor statistics commissioner over 'phony' numbers
Trump told reporters that he believed unfavorable job numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today were "phony," and accused the agency of a history of fudging numbers to boost his political opponents.
“I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election, and there were other times. So you know what I did? I fired her, and you know what? I did the right thing,” Trump said.
The comments referred to his firing of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer earlier today.
Trump said — without providing evidence — that the labor statistics were "wrong," and accused McEntarfer of releasing "beautiful numbers" before the presidential election last year in the hopes of electing then-Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The president previously touted past jobs reports when they showed more favorable figures in April, May and June.
The agency said today that the economy had added just 73,000 jobs last month, and revised figures from May and June, saying fewer jobs had been added than previously reported.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, funder of NPR and PBS, says it will shut down after Congress cut money
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced today that it will begin shutting down, weeks after Congress canceled previously approved funding for the nation’s steward of public media access.
The CPB said in a statement that it will begin an “orderly wind-down” of its operations after nearly 60 years with the support of the federal government.
It said that most staff positions will conclude with the close of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. A small team of employees will remain through January 2026, it added. It did not specify how many people in total were being laid off.
“Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations,” the corporation’s president and CEO, Patricia Harrison, said in a statement. “CPB remains committed to fulfilling its fiduciary responsibilities and supporting our partners through this transition with transparency and care.”
Republican super PACs bank millions ahead of midterm battles
Republicans are betting that they can defend their slim congressional majorities in next year’s midterm elections, and the party’s biggest donors are putting their chips on the table, too.
New fundraising reports filed Thursday for outside groups show that GOP megadonors are engaged in the fight for Congress, steering $59.2 million to the main two super PACs involved in House and Senate races aligned with GOP leadership, Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, throughout the first six months of the year.
The two major super PACs aligned with Democratic congressional leadership, Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC, raised $38.6 million combined.
The GOP groups had $62 million left in their accounts as of June 30, while the Democratic groups had $35.8 million. And neither those figures nor the totals raised include all of the groups’ nonprofit arms, which can also raise unlimited funds but do not have to disclose their donors.
Ghislaine Maxwell was not eligible to be transferred to Texas prison camp, according to Bureau of Prison policy
Ghislaine Maxwell was ineligible to be transferred to a minimum security prison camp — like the one she was transferred to in Texas — because she is a convicted sex offender, according to the Bureau of Prison’s own designation policy.
Sex offenders must be in at least a low level security prison unless they receive a waiver. FCI Tallahassee, where Maxwell was before the move to Texas, is a low-level security prison.
Only the administrator of the Bureau of Prison’s Designation and Sentence Computation Center can make the decision to grant a waiver, according to the waiver policy.
'Absolute betrayal': Former Labor Department officials react to Trump's firing of labor statistics boss
Two former Department of Labor officials condemned Trump's decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer following the release of a revised jobs report today that suggested a slow down in hiring.
Trump accused McEntarfer, without evidence, of manipulating the hiring data to make him look bad. Former Biden Labor Secretary Julie Su told NBC News that McEntarfer's termination suggests Trump "hates facts."
"Donald Trump hates facts, so he blames truth tellers. But he can’t hide from the terrible damage that his chaotic and ego driven mess of an economic agenda is causing," Su said.
“This president does not believe in independent agencies. He believes that everybody should do his bidding, and that, you know, facts don’t matter, and people who do their jobs, can be mistreated at every turn," she added, noting that reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are typically prepared by "expert career staff," she added.
Former Labor Department spokesperson Egan Reich, who also worked in the Biden administration, called the firing "an absolute betrayal of every single person at BLS, now and throughout its existence, whose integrity and forthrightness created the kind of stable business environment that earned a lot of people tremendous amounts of money.”
Schumer blasts Trump's firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics head
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blasted Trump’s firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner, accusing him of acting like “someone who imitates authoritarian leaders.”
Schumer said Trump had shot the messenger, calling him a “bad leader” during remarks on the Senate floor.
“Today, we got some of the worst labor numbers that we’ve gotten in a long time,” Schumer said. “So of course, that’s very bad news for the economy. But what does Donald Trump do? Instead of trying to fix the economy, he shoots the messenger.”
The now-former BLS commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, was confirmed to her post by the Senate in 2023 with bipartisan support that included Vice President JD Vance’s vote.
“You know, Donald Trump sometimes admires dictators. He admires them. Well, he sometimes acts just like them. It’s classic Donald Trump. When he gets the news he doesn’t like he shoots the messenger,” Schumer said. “As long as Donald Trump keeps firing messengers who bring him truth, he hates truth when he doesn’t agree with it.”
Stocks end the day sharply lower after jobs report and tariffs news
U.S. stocks tumbled today as investors digested sweeping new tariffs from Trump and a surprising jobs report that indicates there are bigger cracks in the labor market than initially thought.
The broad S&P 500 index fell more than 1.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid more than 2%. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by more than 500 points, or about 1.2%
Senior administration official says moving Ghislaine Maxwell to a facility in Texas is not preferential treatment
Responding to Ghislaine Maxwell’s move to a minimum-security federal prison camp in Texas, a senior administration official told NBC News that prisoners are “routinely moved” due to safety concerns.
“Any false assertion this individual was given preferential treatment is absurd. Prisoners are routinely moved in some instances due to significant safety and danger concerns,” the official said of Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirator and confidant.
In a statement earlier today responding to Maxwell's move from a Florida facility to the one in Texas, the family of Virginia Giuffre, along with Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein accusers Annie and Maria Farmer, said: "It is with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received."
Trump fires labor statistics boss hours after weak jobs report
Trump this afternoon ordered the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hours after a stunning government report showed that hiring had slowed down significantly over the past three months.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump attacked Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the BLS. He claimed that the country’s jobs reports “are being produced by Biden appointee” and ordered his administration to terminate her.
“We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” Trump wrote. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”
An administration official told NBC News shortly after the post that McEntarfer had indeed been fired.
Trump says he's deploying two nuclear submarines in response to threat from Russia's Dmitry Medvedev
Trump said this afternoon that he's deploying two nuclear submarines in response to "highly provocative statements" from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
"I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account about the remarks from Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council.
Trump added, "Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Trump was responding to a statement yesterday from Medvedev, who was responding to an earlier Trump comment, in which the Russian official said that the president should remember Russia's nuclear strike capabilities.
Schumer rips Trump over latest jobs report, calling it 'tariff whiplash'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., lashed out at Trump this morning in reaction to the latest jobs report that was much worse than expected.
"We learned this morning that the economy actually added over a quarter million fewer jobs than originally thought. We also learned that unemployment has gone up," Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.
“It is disturbing to say, but the chickens are coming home to roost on Donald Trump’s destructive trade war, and the American people are paying the price,” Schumer continued. “If this is what Liberation Day was supposed to look like, then God help us.”
The minority leader blamed Trump and his trade policies for the current economic situation, calling it "tariff whiplash."
Trump endorses RNC chair Michael Whatley for N.C. Senate race
In a post this morning on Truth Social, the president offered his "complete and total endorsement" to Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who launched his campaign for Senate in North Carolina yesterday.
"Michael is fantastic at everything he does, and was certainly a STAR as Co-Chair of the RNC," Trump wrote on social media.
"Michael is a wonderful man, has ALWAYS delivered for North Carolina, especially after the terrible floods, where the Biden Administration did nothing, and will continue doing so as your next U.S. Senator, where he will fight tirelessly to Grow our Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Champion American Energy DOMINANCE, Help Secure our already Secure Southern Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, Strengthen our Military/Veterans, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment," he added.
North Carolina's incumbent senator, Thom Tillis, announced earlier this year that he would not run for re-election, setting up a competitive open-seat Senate race in the Southern state.
Earlier this week, former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, announced that he would run for Senate. Both men are expected to be the eventual nominees for their parties, setting up a general election matchup between Cooper and Whatley.
The president's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who served as the RNC co-chair in 2024, was also publicly considering a run for Senate in North Carolina, but said she ruled it out last week.
Who are the winners and losers of Trump’s tariffs?
The penguins have been offered some relief. The people of Switzerland, Laos and Syria, not so much.
This is the unlikely jumble of winners and losers of President Donald Trump’s finalized list of tariffs, which governments, markets and businesses across the globe were scrambling to make sense of Friday.
Some countries, such as Canada and South Africa, reacted with grave disappointment, warning that Trump’s executive order could prompt job losses globally and rising costs for Americans. For others, the damage was not as bad as expected, with some able to thrash out deals before his deadline, and others hopeful of striking one in the future.
Markets continue selling-off on tariff, jobs report worries
U.S. stocks continue falling further on worries over the president's sweeping tariffs and weak jobs report released this morning.
As of 10:20am E.T., the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down nearly 600 points or 1.4%.
The S&P 500, which most Americans likely have in their retirement accounts, fell 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite, which tracks many of the largest tech firms, fell 2%.
What a Senate floor clash between two Democrats says about where the party is headed
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., clashed with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., this week when Booker, in a fiery floor speech, tried to block a package of police funding bills as he called for greater resistance to Trump’s policies.
Afterward, Booker alluded to his efforts in the face of criticism from Cortez Masto saying, “What’s bothering me right now is we don’t see enough fight in this caucus.”
In an interview, Cortez Masto had her own message.
“I don’t need a lecture from anybody about how to take on and push back and fight against Donald Trump,” Cortez Masto said.
Stocks sell off sharply in premarket trading in response to Trump's sweeping new tariffs
U.S. stock indexes saw sharp sell-offs in premarket trading today after Trump revealed a sweeping new set of tariffs late Thursday.
Traders bet that the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-focused Nasdaq would each decline about 1% today over fears that the new import taxes Trump was imposing would cause global economic growth and corporate profits to decline, while possibly reining in inflation. Among the hardest hit were Taiwan, which will now see 20% duties; Canada, whose rate rose from 25% to 35% for goods not covered by the USMCA trade agreement; and Switzerland, at 39%. Much of the rest of the world now faces a 10% baseline rate.
Analysts have calculated that the average effective tariff rate imposed on all goods being imported into the U.S. is now 15%, the highest level since the 1930s.
While today's market reaction is more muted than the historic sell-off that occurred following Trump's initial unveiling of country-by-country tariffs in his April "Liberation Day" speech, the cloud of uncertainty over the world economy remains in place as the president has suggested still more tariffs are coming on pharmaceutical products, semiconductors and critical minerals.
“Uncertainty about trade hasn’t gone away," James Pomeroy, HSBC global economist, said in a note today. He added: "Global trade flows look set to remain choppy in the coming months, making it harder to gauge how both the US and the rest of the world are coping with these elevated import taxes.”
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff share update about their visit to Gaza today
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff both shared updates on social media about their joint trip to the Gaza Strip this morning.
Huckabee said in his post on X that they visited the enclave to "learn the truth" about aid sites set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. He also said that they received briefings from the Israel Defense Forces and "spoke to folks on the ground."
"GHF delivers more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat!" Huckabee wrote.
Witkoff said in his post on X that they spent more than five hours inside Gaza and he said the visit's purpose was to give Trump "a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza."
Both of their posts featured photos of their visit, which showed Huckabee in a flak jacket and helmet while Witkoff wore a flak jacket and a black MAGA hat.
Swing voters who were key for Trump in 2024 have mixed reviews so far
Ray, a New York voter in his mid-30s, backed Trump last year after having voted for Joe Biden in 2020, pointing to Trump’s pledges to boost the economy. Now, he is not happy with the results on all of those pledges.
“President Trump has made a lot of promises that he’s not really cashing out,” Ray said.
But Scott, a 29-year-old Missourian who also flipped from Biden in 2020 to Trump in 2024, said he’s “happy” with Trump’s presidency so far.
“In general, he’s keeping his promises,” Scott said.
The two men’s opposing views of Trump’s presidency underscore the wide range of opinions among swing voters who helped return Trump to the White House — and who may hold the key to the results of future elections, too.
Both men were among eight voters who spoke to NBC News again in recent days after detailing their hopes for the Trump administration back in January. NBC News is not using the last names of some of the eight voters to allow them to speak more freely about national politics.
