'That's just not true!' Morning Joe wrecks Trump's scramble to justify shock firing

Travis Gettys
August 4, 2025 
ALTERNET


Joe Scarborough. (MSNBC)

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough knocked down President Donald Trump's justification for firing a labor statistician after the latest jobs report showed an economic slowdown.

The president abruptly fired Erika McEntarfer as commissioner of labor statistics Friday, hours after the agency reported job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt. He claimed the Joe Biden appointee had cooked the books in favor of the Democratic administration ahead of last year's election, only to say those numbers were wrong after votes were cast.

"The more he talks about it, the more he just proves how wrong it was to fire this woman," the "Morning Joe" host said. "First of all, he just said all the numbers leading up to this report were positive. He always praised her numbers. If he's going to blame this on her instead of actually data, it wasn't her."

Trump has long praised McEntarfer for her work, and Scarborough said his claim about her job numbers before the 2024 election misrepresented the facts.

"He keeps going back to this, this line about, 'Oh, they put out a blockbuster report right before the election' – no, they didn't," Scarborough said. "That's just not true. I mean, from the reports I saw, it was actually tepid and weak right before the election. So again, I know, I know, facts don't matter in this case. But, again, it seems as far as fluctuations go, and that always happens, that has always happened. It always will happen, as far as the numbers being revised the next month or two."

"The numbers are revised not because of any political bias, and not because of any political bias over the past two decades," he added, "but because of employers not participating as much and it taking another month to get more details and pulling it out of the employers, and then they revise it a month later. So, again, on all of these points, they just don't hold any water."

Watch the video below or at this link.

'Irked' Trump's tantrum may have plunged US economy into decades of chaos: CNN analyst

Adam Nichols
August 4, 2025 

RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 3, 2025. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz

Donald Trump's shock dismissal of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer over disappointing jobs numbers has experts warning that the 'irked' president's knee-jerk reaction may have spiraled America's economy into a chaos that could last decades.

The firing came after July's dismal jobs report showed only 73,000 new positions created, with previous months revised downward by a staggering 258,000 jobs—numbers that directly contradicted Trump's grandiose claims of a new "golden age."

"BLS is the finest statistical agency in the entire world. Its numbers are trusted all over the world," former BLS Commissioner William Beach told CNN's "State of the Union." Beach warned that "the president's attack on the commissioner and on the bureau is undermining that infrastructure, could undermine that trust over the long term."

" Trump was irked," wrote CNN's Stephen Collinson Monday.

He went on, "One big danger now is that Trump’s economic fabulism will gather its own momentum and infect confidence in government statistics that will long outlive his presidency.

"Employment data is published as part of a multilayered process that would be almost impossible for one official to corrupt. But if Trump appoints a politicized official to head the BLS with an incentive to please him, the pressure on officials to produce corrupted data would be intense. If jobs numbers are worse next month, will he fire someone else? And if the numbers improve, will anyone believe in their integrity?"

Trump's cronies scrambled to defend the firing on Sunday's talk shows. White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett declared that "the president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable."

The move represents Trump's latest assault on independent institutions, following his pattern of attacking anyone who dares present facts that contradict his alternate reality. As one expert noted, Trump's behavior mirrors that of "populist authoritarian strongmen leaders such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán or Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan."

This isn't Trump's first rodeo with reality denial, Collinson wrote. During his presidency, he infamously told supporters, "Just remember, what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening"—a mantra that guided his COVID-19 response and culminated in his "Big Lie" about the 2020 election.

The economic implications are severe. When countries politicize official data, they "risk ending up like Argentina or Greece, where the invention of rosy statistics masked economic malaise and sparked financial crises," Collinson wrote.

Trump's second term has devolved into what observers call an "Orwellian" exercise in rewriting reality.

"Suppose that they get a new commissioner," Beach warned, "and they do a bad number. Well, everybody's going to think, 'Well, it's not as bad as it probably really is,' because they're going to suspect political influence."

America's economic credibility—built over generations—now hangs in the balance, Collinson concluded.

Trump furious after uproar over job numbers firing: 'Rigged just like' 2020 election

David Edwards
August 4, 2025 

RAW STORY

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts after disembarking Marine One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

President Donald Trump scrambled to defend himself after firing Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) administrator Erika McEntarfer over a poor jobs report.

"Last weeks Job’s Report was RIGGED, just like the numbers prior to the Presidential Election were Rigged," Trump insisted Monday in a punctuation-challenged post on Truth Social. "That’s why, in both cases, there was massive, record setting revisions, in favor of the Radical Left Democrats."

"Those big adjustments were made to cover up, and level out, the FAKE political numbers that were CONCOCTED in order to make a great Republican Success look less stellar!!!" he added. "I will pick an exceptional replacement. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAGA!"

Truth Details

2938 replies

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

Last weeks Job’s Report was RIGGED, just like the numbers prior to the Presidential Election were Rigged. That’s why, in both cases, there was massive, record setting revisions, in favor of the Radical Left Democrats. Those big adjustments were made to cover up, and level out, the FAKE political numbers that were CONCOCTED in order to make a great Republican Success look less stellar!!! I will pick an exceptional replacement. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAGA!

'No Pocahontas!' Trump loses it as Elizabeth Warren destroys him on CNBC

TRUMP ANTI NATIVE AMERICAN RACISM

IN DEFENSE OF FASCISM

David Edwards
August 4, 2025

RAW STORY

Donald Trump on the campaign trail in Las Vegas, Nevada 

 REUTERS/David Becker

President Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as she slammed him in a CNBC interview for firing Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) administrator Erika McEntarfer over a poor jobs report.

"Well, look, you know, you get bad data, you kill the messenger, right?" Warren told CNBC on Monday. "And that's Donald Trump because he thinks he can bend reality. If he can just tell a different story, then everyone will have to believe his story."

"I think most people have not absorbed just how dangerous it is, both to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and also, then what, to put in some sycophant who's going to give data that makes the president happy?" she continued. "So he's got some toady suck-up in there, and a month from now, let's just say good data come out. How many people have to discount that data and say, not really?"

Moments later, Trump raged about Warren's appearance on CNBC in a series of posts on Truth Social.

"Elizabeth Warren is a LOSER! She lies about everything, including the fact that she is an Indian. She's NOT. She's no Pocahontas!!!" the president exclaimed. "Ask Pocahontas the real questions, CNBC!!!"


Watch the video below from CNBC.

ABC: Trump White House refused to provide guest to talk about poor jobs report

David Edwards
August 3, 2025

RAW STORY

ABC/screen grab

The Trump administration declined to provide a guest to ABC News after the leader of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was fired over a poor jobs report.

On Sunday, This Week host George Stephanopoulos revealed that ABC had contacted the White House after President Donald Trump fired BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer.

"After the president fired the head of the BLS on Friday, we invited the White House to provide a guest to respond," the host explained. "They declined."

Instead, Stephanopoulos spoke to former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers about the BLS shakeup.

"I mean, this is way beyond anything that Richard Nixon ever did," Summers remarked. "I'm surprised that other officials have not responded by resigning themselves, as took place when Richard Nixon fired people lawlessly. This is a preposterous charge."

"These numbers are put together by teams of literally hundreds of people following detailed procedures that are in manuals," he continued. "There's no conceivable way that the head of the BLS could have manipulated this number."

"This is the stuff of — democracy is giving way to authoritarianism. Firing statisticians goes with threatening the heads of newspapers. It goes with launching assaults on universities. It goes with launching assaults on law firms."

Watch the video below from ABC or at the link..

'This Is Damaging': Former BLS Chief Slams Trump Firing of McEntarfer Over Weak Jobs Report

"Authoritarians always try to control and dominate the information landscape to undermine opposition to their harmful policies," said the head of one consumer watchdog group.

Former commissioner William Beach, appointed by Trump during his first term, is now speaking out over the president's firing of his successor, Erika McEntarfer.
(Photo: CNN/screengrab)

Jon Queally
Aug 03, 2025

COMMON DREAMS


The former head of the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has joined those speaking out loudly against President Donald Trump's weekend firing of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer, who was dismissed after a jobs report released Friday showed the economy taking on water under Trump's leadership.

In an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, William Beach, who was nominated by Trump during his first term and ran the nonpartisan BLS directly before McEntarfer, defended the agency's independence and argued that Trump's firing will do lasting damage to the trust placed in the bureau. The firing, he argued, could have severe consequences for the national economy and wider negative reverberations.

"I don't think there's any grounds at all for this firing. And it really hurts the statistical system," said Beach. "It undermines credibility... This is damaging."

Pressed by CNN's anchor to address unsubstantiated claims by Trump that McEntarfer somehow "rigged" the numbers that resulted in the poor jobs report, Beach said that was impossible.

"There's no way for that to happen," explained Beach. "The commissioner doesn't do anything to collect the numbers. The commissioner doesn't see the numbers until Wednesday before they're published. By the time the commissioner sees the numbers, they are all prepared; they're locked into the computer system."

 

On Friday, following the initial public comments by Trump, Beach was among the signatories of a statement issued by the Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an independent group of outside organizations dedicated to economic statistics and analysis that supports the mission of the BLS.

The statement—signed by the Friends of the BLS co-chairs, of whom Beach is one, and members of its steering committee—states that the "baseless, damaging claim" about McEntarfer made by Trump "undermines the valuable work and dedication of BLS staff who produce the reports each month" and "escalates the President's unprecedented attacks on the independence and integrity of the federal statistical system."

And continues:
The President seeks to blame someone for unwelcome economic news. The Commissioner does not determine what the numbers are but simply reports on what the data show. The process of obtaining the numbers is decentralized by design to avoid opportunities for interference. The BLS uses the same proven, transparent, reliable process to produce estimates every month. Every month, BLS revises the prior two months’ employment estimates to reflect slower-arriving, more-accurate information.

This rationale for firing Dr. McEntarfer is without merit and undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics that are a cornerstone of intelligent economic decision-making by businesses, families, and policymakers. U.S. official statistics are the gold standard globally. When leaders of other nations have politicized economic data, it has destroyed public trust in all official statistics and in government science.


The statement says Trump's politicization of BLS data is a great disservice to the agency and its workers as well as the "entire federal statistical system which this country has relied on for almost 150 years." The group called for a congressional inquiry into McEntarfer's firing by Trump.

Friday's job report sparked headlines nationwide questioning the strength of the labor market and the economy overall, under Trump's leadership.

"America's remarkably resilient labor market was a mirage," Axios reported on Friday, for example. "Hiring came to a screeching halt in the last few months, suggesting more underlying economic weakness than it seemed."

Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, was among those who slammed Trump for his Orwellian behavior in the wake of a bad jobs report that many economists predicted was on its way due to the president's misguided trade policies and giveaways to the rich at the expense of working people.

"Trump has made a career of calling up down, and calling the truth a lie," said Weissman in a Friday statement. "But the threat to the integrity of the Bureau of Labor Statistics—the trusted source of objective, factual information about the state of the economy—is a Newspeak project of a whole other level and will undermine not just public understanding but evidence-based policymaking altogether."

While "profoundly troubling," Weissman said nobody should be surprised by what Trump has done.

"Authoritarians always try to control and dominate the information landscape to undermine opposition to their harmful policies," he said. "Yet again, to advance his narrow, personal, and political interests, Donald Trump is undermining the interests of the United States and leaving us a weaker and more vulnerable nation."

'Kill the messenger': Trump ripped over 'dangerous and corrupt' firing of labor stats head

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

David Badash

THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

August 01, 2025 |

A furious President Donald Trump has fired the Commissioner of Labor Statistics following a dismal June jobs report that showed only 73,000 new jobs added and downward revisions of more than 250,000 for April and May.

“I was just informed that our Country’s ‘Jobs Numbers’ are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer,” Trump wrote in a social media post, baselessly accusing her of having “faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is an independent statistical agency and part of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Claiming that the Bureau had “overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000,” Trump wrote: “These were Records — No one can be that wrong?”

“I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified,” he vowed. “Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”

“McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months,” he noted.

Trump then also called for the termination of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, despite having claimed he does not plan to fire him before his term ends next year.

“The Economy is BOOMING under ‘TRUMP’ despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting ‘Kamala’ elected – How did that work out? Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should also be put ‘out to pasture.’ Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Democracy Docket reported that McEntarfer’s “firing raises the threat of political interference in U.S. economic data, which economists warn would undermine confidence in the economy.”

The media outlet called her dismissal “part of Trump’s ongoing efforts to take control of traditionally independent federal agencies, and to use them for political gain.”

Critics blasted the move.

“Unquestionably the most dangerous and corrupt attack on the independence of US economic data in American history,” wrote Joey Politano, who writes the economics Substack Apricitas Economics. “Trump is firing the head of the BLS, [a] longtime civil servant confirmed 86-8 by the Senate, simply because the job numbers came in below his expectations today.”

Arin Dube, Provost Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, issued this warning:

“Firing the Commissioner of Labor Statistics when the BLS revises jobs numbers down (as it routinely does) threatens to destroy trust in core American institutions, and all government statistics. I can’t stress how damaging this is.”

Journalist and author Charles Fishman noted, “Trump doesn’t like Friday’s official job statistics. Trump fires career labor economist who is Commissioner of Labor Statistics. This is what authoritarianism looks like. Don’t like reality? Fire the person, insist on a new reality. Completely undermines trust in gov’t data.”

Journalist Brian J. Karem wrote: “Remember the part about ‘shooting the messenger’? This is a real Third World, Russian or North Korean propaganda move. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen Don. You don’t get to burn down the house.”

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) declared, “Breaking: Kill the messenger.”

'Obsessed with propaganda': How Trump's 'temper tantrum' firing of BLS chief may backfire

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during the White House Faith Office Luncheon at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Carl Gibson

August 01, 2025

ALTERRNET

President Donald Trump's recent snap decision to fire the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) could end up blowing up in his face, according to one analyst.

In a Friday essay for the Atlantic, columnist Jonathan Chait wrote that Trump's sacking of BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfer over a less-than-flattering jobs report gives Americans a distinct window into how the second Trump administration governs. Chait wrote that Trump's firing of McEntarfer was an emotionally driven "lizard brain" decision after the July 2025 jobs report showed not only sluggish job growth of just 73,000 new jobs added, but a downward revision of previous jobs numbers by 258,000 — the worst period of job growth since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Chait wrote that Trump's reasoning that bureaucrats were scheming to undermine falls apart upon closer inspection.

"Revisions of past numbers are a normal part of BLS methodology. Every monthly report is a projection based on limited information, so the Bureau continues to update its findings," he explained. "Last August, the BLS revised previous months’ job numbers downward. This was obviously a bad thing for the Biden administration, but Republicans decided that it was in fact evidence that the BLS had been cooking the books to make the economy look good."

According to Chait, McEntarfer's sudden firing can also shed light on Trump's ongoing feud with Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell over Powell's refusal to lower interest rates. He argued that, similar to how Trump lacks an understanding of how the BLS routinely adjusts data, he also fails to grasp why interest rates are lowered in the first place.

The Atlantic columnist pointed out that the Fed typically only lowers interest rates when the economy is struggling, in order to stimulate more economic activity. And when the economy is strong, the Fed keeps interest rates higher as a means of preventing the economy from overheating and causing inflation to spike. After breaking that down, he likened Trump's frustration with Powell as claiming that the economy is stronger than it actually is, while pushing Powell to do things that suggest the economy is weaker than it actually is.

"He is obsessed with propaganda, and has had phenomenal success manipulating the media and bullying his party into repeating even his most fantastical lies," Chait wrote. "But, as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris learned the hard way, voters don’t judge the economy on the basis of jobs reports. They judge it on the basis of how they and their community are doing. You can’t fool the public into thinking the economy is better than it is with fake numbers. All fake numbers can do is make it harder for policy makers to steer the economy."

"The president’s mad rush to subject the macroeconomic policy makers to the same partisan discipline he has imposed on the power ministries is less of a coup than a temper tantrum," he added. "He thinks he wants loyalists and hacks running those functions. He might not like what happens when he gets his way."

Click here to read Chait's full column in the Atlantic (subscription required).

'Banana republic territory': Krugman says Trump's latest move follows dictator 'playbook'

MSNBC host Ari Melber and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on MSNBC on August 1, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MSNBC / YouTube)

Carl Gibson

August 01, 2025 

ALTERNET

One of the foremost economists in the U.S. is now sounding the alarm over President Donald Trump's decision to fire the head of the United States' premier economic data institution over an unflattering jobs report.

In a Friday interview with MSNBC host Ari Melber, Paul Krugman — the former New York Times columnist who also won the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 2008 — plainly warned that Trump's controversial move to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner Erika McEntarfer puts the United States on the same path as authoritarian countries like Argentina and Venezuela.

Krugman said that the sluggish July jobs report — which showed anemic growth of just 73,000 non-farm payroll jobs — wasn't a signal of a bad economy by itself, arguing that it's normal for jobs numbers to fluctuate month to month based on both internal and external circumstances. However, Krugman said that firing McEntarfer over the report was highly abnormal and will likely cause significant shock in financial markets.

"This agency, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is not a household phrase. But it is absolutely critical. Basically, everything that we know about what's happening to the economy in the last couple of months comes from the BLS," Krugman said. "... It's critical for all of us to understand what's happening, but also how the government itself makes decisions. It's how the Federal Reserve makes decisions. If you start to corrupt those numbers, if you start to report those numbers as being what makes the president look good instead of what's actually happening, then bad things start happening."

"If you ask me, how does someplace like Venezuela get to hyperinflation? How does someplace like Argentina get hyperinflation? ... they start ordering the statistical agencies to report nothing but puppies and rainbows," he continued. "And so they go plunging ahead ... If they ever do admit that maybe we have a problem here, you're up at 80% inflation, right? This is the playbook. We've seen it many, many times. And now, I have to say faster even than I expected. It's come to America, right?"

As Krugman mentioned, Argentina attempted to obscure inflation data following an economic crisis at the onset of the 21st century that led to inflation hitting 41%. As the University of California-Los Angeles' Anderson School of Management reported, the Argentinian government ended up firing the statistician in charge of calculating the Consumer Price Index and then made up numbers on the spot. Krugman opined that Trump's latest move is eerily similar.

"I don't think they're going to be producing fake numbers by next month, but they might be, and it's certainly where Trump wants them to go," Krugman told Melber. "So we're going to be back in Argentina in the days when they were faking the statistics ... I mean, we are in banana republic territory now."

Watch the video of Krugman's segment below, or by clicking this link.

This phony conspiracy is a cover for a shocking truth

John Stoehr
August 4, 2025 

ALTERNET

Donald Trump, with attorney Todd Blanche, speaks outside court in New York. Michael M. Santiago/Pool via REUTERS

Bloomberg journalist Jason Leopold recently reported that the president’s name has been redacted from more than 100,000 documents the FBI has on child-sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Leopold said that after 1,000 FBI personnel pored over more than 300 gigabytes of data and evidence in the government’s investigation of Epstein, the files were sent to US Attorney General Pam Bondi.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Bondi met with Donald Trump in May to say his name appears “multiple times” in the files. On the basis of that finding, she decided not to release them to the public, despite the president’s campaign promise to do so. Trump apparently agreed.

On July 8, Pam Bondi issued a memo, saying that “no further disclosure” of the Epstein files “would be appropriate or warranted.”

“While we have labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein,” the memo said, “it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

If so, why did the FBI spend so much time and manpower redacting Trump’s name? And why did they redact his name on the flimsy basis of protecting his privacy, as if the president were a private citizen — as if the public did not have an overwhelming interest in knowing about his relationship with the country’s most notorious child-sex offender?

The answer?

The deep state is real and it works for Donald Trump.

A real conspiracy and a theory of one

Some conspiracies are real. Most conspiracy theories are not. But the phony ones can be used to cover up for the real ones. And that’s what I think has happened in the case of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.

They were friends. They clearly shared an interest in sex with underage girls (or in statutory rape, if you prefer). But Trump has avoided serious public exposure in part by deliberately obscuring his past and in part by exploiting a conspiracy theory about his friend.

That conspiracy theory is sometimes known as QAnon. More generally, it’s known as “the deep state.” It tells the story of a shadowy cabal of powerful (Jewish) elites embedded in the government, in businesses and the media. They conspire with enemies foreign and domestic to hijack democracy out from under the noses of the American people.


Among Trump’s most loyal supporters, Jeffrey Epstein was the great (Jewish) representative of “the deep state,” and Trump was the hero who was supposed to defeat it. Whenever a story came up about sex offenses in Trump’s past, as when a judged said that he had raped a famous magazine columnist, his followers chalked it up to another attempt by the deep state to bring him. The conspiracy theory became cover for the actual conspiracy to obscure Trump’s sexual crimes.
Too much to hide

That conspiracy continues with this latest report showing the FBI chose to black out Trump’s name, because he was a private citizen at the time of the Epstein investigation in 2006. Here’s Jason Leopold:

“In particular, the reviewers applied two FOIA exemptions to justify their redactions. The first, Exemption 6, protects individuals against ‘a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.’ The Supreme Court has said the exemption protects ‘individuals from the injury and embarrassment’ that would result from the disclosure of personal information in possession of the government. … The second, Exemption 7(C), protects personal information contained in law enforcement records, the disclosure of which ‘could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.’”

You and me and everyone we know are entitled to privacy protections, because without them, we are more or less powerless. The president is not powerless, nor is entitled to such protections. He is the president.

The public has a right to know whether Trump was part of Epstein’s pedophile ring; whether he covered up his involvement; and whether he has induced government agents to pervert privacy laws in the furtherance of an ongoing conspiracy to hide his sexual crimes.

Trump could waive his rights to privacy and order the release of the Epstein files, with his name appearing through them “multiple times.” He could let the chips fall where they may, but he’s never done that. There’s too much at stake and, evidently, there’s too much to hide.

'Smacks of a coverup'

In addition to the government scrubbing Trump’s name from the Epstein files, it moved Epstein’s accomplice from a maximum-security prison to a cushy one in Texas.

Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred after being interviewed by the second in command at the Department of Justice. Journalist Michael Wolff has said that was an effort to ascertain whether she has more incriminating evidence on Trump.

The family of Maxwell’s best-known victim, Virginia Giuffre, said the news is an offense to her memory (she killed herself in April) and “smacks of a coverup.”

In a statement, the family said: “Without any notification to the Maxwell victims, the government overnight has moved Maxwell to a minimum-security luxury prison in Texas. This is the justice system failing victims right before our eyes.

“The American public should be enraged by the preferential treatment being given to a pedophile and a criminally charged child sex offender. The Trump administration should not credit a word Maxwell says, as the government itself sought charges against Maxwell for being a serial liar. This move smacks of a cover up. The victims deserve better.”

Indeed, the deep state is real and it works for Donald Trump.

THE GNOMES OF ZURICH

Israel’s Ever-Expanding War Machine Is Financed Through International Bond Sales

Israel’s ability to continue its military onslaughts is dependent on a sophisticated international funding system.

By Andrea Umbrello , 

Truthout

July 26, 2025

Israel bombards the Gaza Strip on July 24, 2025.Amir Levy / Getty Images

Over the last two years, Israel has run simultaneous military operations across an expanding array of fronts. Its armed forces have carried out a genocide in the Gaza Strip and expanded military operations across major West Bank urban centers. Cities including Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Hebron, and areas near Jericho have experienced night raids, blockades, killings, demolitions, and forced displacements. Meanwhile, the Israeli military has also maintained tensions along the Lebanese border, and has struck Syria and Yemen. At the same time, the Israeli government has escalated its aggression against Iran, which it frames as “preemptive” defense against a specious nuclear threat. None of this would be possible without a sophisticated international funding system that upholds Israel’s war machine.

With strong U.S. backing, Israel is experiencing the most expensive and turbulent period in its recent history. Even before the confrontation with Iran, Israel’s military spending had already risen by 65 percent, reaching $46.5 billion in 2024 as the genocide in Gaza and clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon continued. This was the steepest rise since the 1967 Six-Day War, with the portion of Israel’s gross domestic product going to military costs reaching 8.8 percent, making it the second highest globally.

In March 2025, the Knesset approved the national budget, giving the Defense Ministry 109.8 billion shekels, equal to $29.9 billion. This is the largest amount ever approved for that purpose in the country’s history. “This is not just a budget” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated during the parliamentary debate. “It tells the story of hundreds of thousands of IDF fighters and their families. It is the story of border heroes, pioneering settlers, an entire nation going to war to win.”

Military might relies on continuous financial flows. Without them, no war machine could cover its operating costs. To secure these, a transnational financial framework has been built that turns military operations into strategic assets. In this cycle, conflict creates public debt, which is then structured as a financial product and sold to global investors, freeing up fresh funds. Israel has refined this process, converting military debt into appealing investment tools for markets worldwide.

International investment banks connect government liquidity needs with investment chances. They don’t just advise or passively invest; they also guarantee bond issues that fund the country’s military spending. Since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has issued many government bonds, which many call “war bonds,” gathering at least $19.4 billion between October 2023 and January 2025.

Related Story

Nearly 2 Years Into Gaza Genocide, US Activists Escalate Their Resistance
Activists are diversifying their tactics, holding hunger strikes and more to demand an end to US aid to Israel. By Shane Burley , Truthout July 21, 2025

Shir Hever, coordinator for the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s military embargo campaign, clarified that “the bonds the country is selling aren’t exactly ‘war bonds,’ though they’re used to fund genocide. This nation is in a constant state of war, an emergency condition to justify illegal acts, but for many decades it stopped officially calling its bonds ‘war bonds’ due to the bad press they got in the 1980s, when the war was the unpopular 1982 invasion of Lebanon.”

Hever continued, “Israel faces a growing military embargo. Companies are hesitant to trade arms with a state that violates international law, fearing potential repercussions.” Among the first notable examples, Spain halted all new military supplies to Israel starting in November 2023. From May 2024, it banned transit through Spanish ports for ships carrying weapons bound for Israel. More recently, at the Emergency Ministerial Conference on Palestine organized by The Hague Group held July 15 and 16 in Bogotá, Colombia, 12 of 30 participating countries immediately committed to imposing an arms embargo on Israel to stop its attacks in Gaza. These nations include Cuba, Bolivia, Colombia, and South Africa. The remaining countries are scheduled to join them by September 20, 2025, the date of the 80th United Nations General Assembly.

“As a result, Tel Aviv is desperately seeking alternative sources for arms,” Hever told Truthout. “It’s also commissioning its own companies to set up national production lines to make weapons they can no longer import. The cost of these initiatives is huge, and it’s funding them by borrowing more, selling bonds worldwide to quickly raise money to fund the Gaza genocide.”

“Since the bonds are needed to equip the armed forces, those who subscribe to them and those who buy them are becoming complicit in crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Israel,” Hever said.

International institutions are increasingly focusing on this issue. The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have received appeals and formal complaints. These are calling for broadening accountability to include third parties such as financial backers and economic actors who enable or support such crimes.

Hever emphasized, “Every actor has an obligation, under international law, to exercise due diligence and ensure their financial activities don’t contribute to these grave crimes.”

Bonds are financial tools states use to raise funds from markets. Those who buy them lend money to the government, which promises to repay the amount and pay regular interest. To get these bonds onto global markets and ensure they’re bought, Israel has relied on seven major investment banks acting as “underwriters.” These banks buy the bonds from the government, package them as financial products, and resell them to international investors, giving the issuing state immediate cash. Goldman Sachs stands out as the main backer, having underwritten over $7 billion of these bonds (37 percent of the total). The other banks involved are Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Citi, Barclays, and JPMorgan Chase, which together covered the remaining $12.4 billion.

These banks play a key role in issuing bonds while facing pressure from BDS campaigns and international groups that are urging pension funds, universities, and institutional investors to divest. Critics charge that by raising capital for Israel’s government, these institutions enable activities that violate international law. Leading campaigns like “Don’t Buy Into Occupation” and “Stop Arming Israel” identify these financial institutions as partners to Israeli authorities and call for severed ties.

Israeli bonds are bought by a wide range of entities, including pension funds, insurance companies, banks, local governments, and private investors in more than 30 countries. Demand for these financial instruments often outstrips supply by a factor of five because global investors have historically viewed Israeli bonds as relatively safe investments. For example, in the first issuance of 2025, Israel raised $5 billion, while requests for the bonds reached $23 billion. In another record issuance, the government got $8 billion from requests totaling $38 billion.

The framework operates through entities such as Israel Bonds, which maintains ties to Israel’s Finance Ministry. These organizations actively market these securities as vehicles to back Israel’s military efforts, targeting both institutional and private investors across North America and Europe. “October 7 changed everything,” said Dani Naveh, president and CEO of Israel Bonds, referring to the growth in the popularity of these bonds. “But what followed was truly remarkable.” Naveh portrayed these investments as a vote of confidence in Israel’s economy, but they ultimately reveal complicity. The war turned international support into a direct means to continue the slaughter in Gaza.

This method is not new. In the United States, after September 11, the federal government paid for armed response and internal safety by selling many Treasury bonds. Public debt rose quickly, with Treasury bonds bought by millions of investors. In this way, the U.S. covered military costs without raising taxes. This created a cycle where war leads to debt, and debt becomes money tools, sold to investors, bringing in new money.

In later years, during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, federal bonds became the main way to fund military action. U.S. Treasury bonds, seen as among the safest investments globally, kept stable demand even during times of political trouble. Because they could attract money, the United States could pay for wide-ranging military operations without immediate budget problems, but with a lasting effect on national debt.

Israel, however, funds its military work not only with debt bonds but also with money from European Union (EU) research programs. The state, though not an EU member, has a special arrangement that allows it to access European funds. This includes programs like Horizon Europe and the European Defence Fund (EDF).

Horizon Europe is officially for civilian research, but many of the technologies it funds have military uses. Between 2021 and 2024, Israel received over 1.1 billion euros from the program, involving 921 projects. Among the beneficiaries are companies like Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and Elbit Systems, which make weapons. So, European funds support projects in cyber defense, robotics, and satellite communication. These same technologies are then put into Israeli military systems, used for attack drones and surveillance platforms.

Horizon Europe shows the dual civilian and military use of research. The EDF directly pays for military projects with over 7 billion euros between 2021 and 2027. Israel formally could not get access, but in 2023 Israel Aerospace Industries got around this by buying 94.5 percent of the Greek company Intracom Defense. Now Intracom takes part in 15 EDF projects on anti-drone systems, war sensors, encrypted networks, and military AI. Although based in Greece, the technologies developed directly supply the Israeli military machine.

The military push in Gaza caused serious outcomes for Israel’s economy. It hit hard with rising war costs and political unease. Top rating agencies such as Moody’s, Fitch Ratings, and S&P Global made history by cutting Israel’s sovereign rating, worried about growing debt burdens and economic prospects. Moody’s expressed particular concern, pointing to a possible further downgrade into the speculative category commonly called “junk.” This classification means bonds carry a high chance of not being paid back, falling below safe investment levels.

At the same time, the global BDS campaign gained speed around the world. Student groups, civil society organizations, and activists launched efforts at well-known universities and major financial centers. They urged asset managers, pension funds, and public bodies to slowly cut investments in Israeli holdings. The legal and reputational harm tied to these investments is becoming clearer. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund sold stakes in Israeli companies operating in settlements over the past year, citing possible breaches of international humanitarian law. Meanwhile, leading financial firms like Storebrand face growing pressure to cut ties with technology companies linked to Israel’s military apparatus. Several major institutional investors have also announced public reviews of their Israeli bond holdings, responding both to awareness campaigns and evolving legal risk assessments.

The pursuit of weaponry and public funds for national security has profoundly reshaped Israel’s economy. The vast cost of its military operations is reflected in the historic rise in its defense spending, its growing deficit, and its worsening debt. The dramatic need for military funding has also shifted government priorities, reducing money for health, social welfare, education, and infrastructure. Israel’s structural reliance on new debt issuance and global market involvement, in an increasingly unstable world with declining international ratings, shows how deeply Israel’s economy has become tied to the cycles of war and global finance.

Israeli military might is deeply linked with its economy. Every bullet depends on a global funding system. Markets react, banks manage the flow, and investors speculate. While focus stays on the military, few look at its economic backing. The country turns conflicts into profit and war into stock data. Israel’s true strength comes not just from armies, but from its ability to move capital with every new conflict. Israel’s constantly expanding assault on Palestinians and the broader region will not end until these profit flows are severed. Behind each bomb is an investment flow, behind each raid a market push, behind each alliance an insurance policy against the world’s fragility.

This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license.

Andrea Umbrello
An Italian multimedia journalist, Andrea Umbrello tells frontline stories through articles published in international outlets, podcasts, and photojournalism. Balancing rigor and empathy, they’ve spent years documenting Palestinian issues, human rights violations, and social injustices worldwide. Their work on human migration and discrimination aims to foster critical reflection on frequently overlooked subjects.

Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theorist Who Likened BLM to Terrorists to Lead Counterterrorism Center

The Senate confirmed Joe Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Center in a 52 to 44 vote.

By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg , 

Truthout

July 31, 2025

On January 6, 2021, insurrectionists stormed the Capitol.Shay Horse / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Former CIA paramilitary officer Joe Kent — who has said members of the Movement for Black Lives should be treated as terrorists, peddled conspiracy theories about the January 6 insurrection, and once earned the endorsement of white supremacist Nick Fuentes — will be leading the National Counterterrorism Center.

On July 30, the Senate confirmed Kent in a 52 to 44 vote largely along party lines, although one Republican voted against his confirmation, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and four Democrats did not vote — Senators Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan.)

Kent has most recently served as acting chief of staff for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. He’s railed against Black Lives Matter protesters and “Antifa,” saying that the federal government, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service should “go after them like organized criminals and terrorists.”

“So, when we start arresting these guys and charging them with federal terrorism charges, that’s going to take away a lot of the incentive to go out and riot,” he said.

A resident of Washington State, Kent ran two unsuccessful bids to represent Washington’s third congressional district. His campaigns are most notable for revealing his associations with racists and antisemites.

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Kent consulted with white supremacist livestreamer Nick Fuentes on his social media strategy, although he later repudiated Fuentes’ endorsement. Fuentes claimed that Kent told him, “I love what you’re doing.” Kent denied making the comment.

Last year, blogger and Nazi sympathizer Greyson Arnold posted a photo with Kent and others to Instagram with the caption, “Great night tonight with amazing WA candidates! #AmericaFirst is unstoppable!” Arnold has said Adolph Hitler was “a complicated historical figure which many people misunderstand.” Kent’s campaign said they did not support his views.

The Associated Press reported that Kent paid Graham Jorgensen, a member of the white supremacist group the Proud Boys, over $10,000 for consulting work on his 2022 campaign.

Kent has promoted debunked conspiracy theories that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that the government instigated the violence on January 6. During his confirmation hearing, he said that “the intelligence community” was “looking into” if the FBI Washington Field Office was involved in planning the violence on January 6.

Lawmakers and civil rights advocates fought his confirmation, but like Kent’s congressional campaigns, were ultimately unsuccessful.

“Republicans just voted to confirm Joe Kent, a conspiracy theorist with white supremacist views, to be in charge of counterterrorism,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) posted on Instagram. “We had all the evidence we’d ever need to know he’s not competent or going to do the right thing. Republicans will own this vote and Kent’s record.”

Utility Bills Hit Record Highs Under Trump

Experts say Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is likely to drive up energy prices even higher.

By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg , 

TruthoutPublishedAugust 1, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside coal and energy workers.

Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

Congressional lawmakers are demanding to know how the Trump administration plans to bring down energy prices as electricity bills hit record highs.

“A combination of the Administration’s regulatory decisions, the impacts of tariffs, and the Administration’s reversal of key energy investments is driving up energy bills for Americans around the country,” Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) wrote in a letter to heads of several federal agencies on July 29.

Since the start of the year, electricity prices have increased almost 5 percent — and in June alone, prices increased by almost a full percentage point. Summer electricity bills are expected to be an average of $784, the highest price in at least 12 years, according to the legislators’ letter.

The lawmakers detailed several ways President Donald Trump “continues to make an already dire situation even worse.” His administration has ordered states to “keep defunct, unwanted, and unneeded coal plants open … foisting tens of millions of dollars of new maintenance and retention costs onto consumers in 15 states.”

In May, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former fracking executive, ordered Michigan to keep a coal powered plant open, just eight days before its scheduled closure. Between the end of May and June 30, it cost $29 million to comply with the secretary’s order.

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An analysis by Global Witness found that companies and people with ties to the fossil fuel industry donated more than $19 million to Trump’s presidential inaugural fund.

Experts say Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is likely to drive up energy prices even higher.

“Based on Trump’s tax law and the ongoing rollbacks of environmental standards at the EPA and other agencies, by 2035, families nationwide can expect to pay up to $430 a year more on energy costs,” Natural Resources Defense Council’s editorial director, Jenny Shalant, wrote in a blog post entitled “Why Your Electricity Bill is So High.”

More than 70 million U.S. households struggle to afford their utilities and have to choose between paying their utility bill or buying necessities like food and medicine. Despite rising costs and a widespread need for assistance, the Trump administration fired all of the federal workers who administer the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and has proposed eliminating its federal funding. The program helps approximately 6 million low-income households pay their utility bills.

“Rather than keeping his campaign promise to ‘cut the price of energy and electricity in half,’ President Trump’s shortsighted approach to energy policy is driving prices higher and doing so quickly,” the lawmakers wrote. “At the same time, the Trump Administration is cutting programs that help families afford higher electricity costs and lower their energy usage, all while utility CEOs receive massive payouts.”


This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg  is a reporter based in New Jersey. Follow her on Twitter: @elizabethweill.