Today in Politics, Bulletin 200. 9/5/25

… The jobs report for August was dreadful. Fox Business reported them live on air this morning: "That 22,000 number - it's a weaker than expected number, and these revisions are pretty brutal. It's disappointing. There's a lot of concern"

… Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was on CNBC trying to talk people off the ledge: “These numbers will get better because you'll take out the people who are just trying to create noise against the president. This is gonna be the greatest growth economy 6 months from now, a year from today, it will be amazing numbers . The Trump economy is just beginning."

… At least we have something to look forward to.

… Trump said give him another year and by that time there will be good job numbers: “The real numbers that I'm talking about are going to be whatever it is but that will be in a year from now. I think you will see jobs numbers then that are going to incredible.”

… That’s quite a bit different than what he said during the campaign. I didn’t hear anything about it being really terrible his first two years but great in Year 3. I heard a lot of “on day one” talk.

… West Wing Report: “22,000 jobs added to US economy in Aug; unemployment rate 4.3%. Slowest 4-month growth since 2020. Broader jobless rate jumps to 8.1%. US job market is slowing down rather dramatically; on pace for worst year since the pandemic year of 2020.”

… Economist Heather Long: “The labor market is going from frozen to cracking. Look at how many industries have LOST jobs in the past 3 months. Mining -13,000. Construction -10,000. Manufacturing -31,000. Information -15,000. Business/Professional -51,000. Federal govt -34,000. Finance 0 job gains. The US job market is almost entirely dependent on healthcare. That's not healthy for the economy.”

… Long: “The Federal Reserve has to cut in Sept. And maybe Oct now. The US economy lost -13,000 jobs in June -->The first negative month since December 2020 (!) There's barely been any job growth in the past 4 months. Almost all the jobs added are in healthcare. Without healthcare, job growth would be NEGATIVE in the past few months.”

… Kevin Gordon, senior analyst for Charles Schwab: “Manufacturing payrolls have contracted for 4 straight months. We have not seen that since the beginning of 2020. With revisions, it's now the case that June's payrolls were negative. That marks the first decline since Dec 2020. Construction payrolls have fallen for 3 straight months.”

… Economist Justin Wolfers: “I'm guessing journalists are going to stop asking me why the ‘hard data’ are so good, given the economic news has been so grim. The lesson I hope they draw is an eternal one: Bad policy leads to bad outcomes, but the actual economy doesn't move at the pace of the political cycle.”

… Right before the report came out, CNN asked Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) if he will believe the numbers: “Um, I'm going to look at the numbers. Look, the people who put these numbers together are human and fallible and make mistakes. Numbers always tend to benefit the Left.”

… Right-wing radio host Steve Deace: “So that jobs report ought to be titled ‘how to lose 40 House seats in 2026 so Marxists can just impeach everybody the next two years.’ We have got to get the kitchen table economics fixed.”

… Right-wing Blaze editor Daniel Horowitz: “Also important to keep in mind that the employment-age population grew by 216k. So you need so many more jobs just to keep up with population growth. Telling people that prices are down and jobs are up is just stupid because nobody believes that.”

… Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL): “People have historically invested in the US because we attract the best and brightest, have robust contract law protections and a stable, independent monetary policy. Trump has reversed all of that. This will get worse before it gets better. As long as Trump continues to tell the world that the way to do business in the US is to bribe him or his family, and as long as the GOP in Congress continues to wallow in their sycophancy we won't right this ship.”

… WH Econ Advisor Kevin Hassett was on Fox: “Q - It was not the number you wanted or expected. How come? Hassett: BLS has been struggling with bad response rate. They've been messing up with Aug data. This number will be revised up. That's been the pattern. Fox host: The revisions for June and July collectively were lower. And you're saying revisions for next month will be up?”

… Hassett then jumped on CNBC and said everything is fine: "Members of my family have been hired. Both of them started their new jobs about a week ago. And so you are seeing that people are being hired. Perhaps in some areas it's slower than people thought."

… Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer was on Fox Business with Stuart Varney: “Would you admit to being just a little disappointed by this weakened job market? Chavez-DeRemer: Well, 22,000 jobs underperformed just a bit, but it's still in the positive.”

… Economist Mike Konczal: “Meanwhile another Trumponomics goal was to use deportation quotas to bring jobs back for native-born workers. But, you guessed it, that's also failing. Amidst the broader weakening, the native-born unemployment rate is at the highest levels since the pandemic.”

… Hassett: “I'm not concerned. I'm looking forward to seeing revisions. We've got to do a better job of collecting, fixing and adjusting the data. It's not acceptable that the jobs numbers are so unreliable. We need a new set of eyes at BLS to fix this problem.”

… Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on CNN: “What he's not focused on is consumer confidence is down in his 7 months, manufacturing down in his 7 months, inflation is up, the foreclosures are up. He's got a failed economic record. 70% of Americans no longer believe in the American dream. His economic record is under 40%. His poll numbers are in the tank.”

… So maybe is wasn’t the fault of the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Trump fired after last month’s bad jobs report.

… You know it’s bad when Trump posts about Epstein to distract from the jobs report: “The confused and badly failing Democrat Party did nothing about Jeffrey Epstein while he was alive except befriend him, socialize with him, travel to his Island, and take his money! This is merely another Democrat HOAX, just like Russia, Russia, Russia, and all of the others, in order to deflect and distract from the great success of a Republican President, and the record setting failure of the previous Admin, and the Democrat Party. DOJ has done its job, they have given everything requested of them. It’s time to end the Democrat Epstein Hoax, and give the Republicans credit for the great, even legendary, job that they are doing.”

… CNN: “Trump's new nominee to run the BLS ran an anonymous Twitter account filled with sexually degrading attacks on Kamala Harris, anti-gay slurs, and far-right conspiracy theories. EJ Antoni tweeted, ‘You can’t run a race on your knees,’ in response to a tweet of a doctored campaign poster that depicted a sexually explicit image of Harris (it was a photoshop depicting Harris with semen around her mouth calling her ‘Cumalla Harris’.”

… CNN Host: “Why would people want to invest in the US when the president is saying, 'I don't know, maybe you trust our economic data, maybe not.' Economist: They wouldn't. And that's why every single time the US has done a treasury auction since Trump was first elected, there's been fewer and fewer foreign buyers. Overseas folks don't want our treasuries anymore. Crypto companies are buying treasuries. Don't know if that makes anybody feel good. Doesn't make me feel great.”

… Trump posted another pitiful lament today about the successful summit between Xi, Modi and Putin: “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”

… MAGA influencers with huge social media followings are melting down about Trump meeting in the WH on camera last night with tech titans developing AI. The meeting was theoretically tied to Melania’s AI safety initiative (she was also present), but what they really want is to secure obscene amounts of electricity and water from the govt, which continues to drive up electric bills for average Americans.

… Trump’s crypto czar David Sacks: “Only President Trump could convene so many tech leaders in one place. We had a constructive conversation about how to grow the economy with new infrastructure spending. This will benefit not only software companies but manufacturing, energy, construction, the trades and workers.”

… They were upset because their Public Enemy #1 Bill Gates was there sitting next to Melania as well as others MAGA hates like Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman. Right-wing documentary filmmaker JJ Carell: “What in the FUCK is going on in the Trump Admin! Epstein is a hoax! One of the biggest rapists on Epstein Island is sitting right next to the First Lady! Gates is talking about vaccines, and Trump just sits there!!!!”

… Laura Loomer: “Zuckerberg and Gates belong in prison. Not at the dinner table with President Trump. Zuckerberg helped steal the 2020 election, and he’s never apologized for it. Gates and his ex-wife, who divorced him because he wouldn’t stop hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein, are 2 of the biggest funders of anti-Trump and leftist activism in our country. There isn’t a single Trump supporter who is going to be happy to see this tonight.”

… Steve Bannon: “Want to have a catastrophe in 2026? Keep trusting the tech bros. They’re not with us. They’re progressive Democrats who censored us during the pandemic and colluded with Big Pharma. THEY'RE EVIL. BREAK THEM UP. I don’t trust that crowd around the President; it’s a nest of vipers. No one went after him harder than Big Tech in his first term. Now they hedge their bets, pretending to be MAGA.”

… Bannon wasn’t done ranting on his show: “Zuckerberg should be in a cell, not at dinner with the President! And Bill Gates, ‘Mr. Vaccine’ himself? Sitting there on the very day Bobby Kennedy is being torn apart on the Hill. What are we doing? Whoever set that up should be perp-walked out of the White House.”

… Rep. Marge Greene (R-GA): “For the record, I’m not going to ever eat Bill Gates fake meat, bugs, take the never ending vaccines, or gene editing. And I still haven’t forgotten about Zuck bucks.”

… RFK Jr’s former running mate Nicole Shanahan: “If President Trump is so concerned about getting into Heaven…this is NOT the way.”

… Wall Street Mav (1.6 million followers): “Why were Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg given the seats next to President Trump? Literally those two guys have been enemies of everything MAGA for 10 years. Zuckerberg even banned Trump from FB and IG. I don't understand why Trump promotes these people after they stab him in the back.”

… Robby Starbuck: “It’s infuriating to see Bill Gates at the WH in a position of honor. I want a future where we stop giving power to evil people like Gates. He’s a globalist who hates the America First ideology. His God complex deserves nothing but contempt. Gates wants everyone to eat fake meat, get triple boosted, eat GMO foods, let him release his genetically engineered bugs onto unsuspecting populations and block out the sun with geo-engineering for climate change. Oh and he wants our country flooded with migrants.”

… Wall Street Apes: “Something has gone VERY wrong, tonight at the White House dinner. On the Left: Sitting next to Trump is Bill Gates. On the Right: Sitting next to Trump is Mark Zuckerberg. Bring back Elon Musk and Donald Trump unity.”

… MAGA influencer Murray: “How many times do you need to see this before you realize it isn’t 5D chess? Trump opening the floodgates to a criminal psychopath like Gates is a slap in the face to every American, especially the ones who voted for him. Stop making excuses for this. There are none.”

… MAGA influencer Concerned Citizen: “WTF is Bill Gates enjoying dinner with Trump at the White House and not in jail for crimes against humanity? You can tell Melania’s skin is crawling just being sat next to him.”

… Dominic Michael Tripi: “Many MAGA ‘influencers’ on this app spent a decade or more rightfully complaining about Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, yet most of these same people lack the integrity to criticize Trump when he invites this scum to the White House.”

… WSJ: “HHS Secretary RFK Jr. plans to announce that pregnant women’s use of an over-the-counter pain medication is potentially linked to autism in a report that also will suggest a medicine derived from folate can be used to treat symptoms of the developmental disorder in some people. The report, expected this month from HHS, is likely to suggest as among the potential causes of autism low levels of folate, an important vitamin, and Tylenol taken during pregnancy.”

… Sen Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on CNN: “Why wouldn't we look at vaccines and autism? Host: We have looked at it and the studies show there is no connection. Mullin: So we shouldn't look at it again?”

… Slava Malamud reacted to Mullin’s comment: “The title of Peter Pomeranzev's excellent book about the rise of fascism in Putin's Russia is ‘Nothing is True and Everything is Possible.’ It's scary to what degree it describes Trump's Republican party.”

… Fred Wellman also had a response to Mullin: “They cut funding for studies of childhood brain cancer but the plumber wants us to study disproven conspiracy theories. The shameless stupidity of these idiots.”

… WSJ: “Hundreds of people including South Korean workers were arrested in an immigration raid at a Hyundai Motor battery plant under construction in GA, weeks after the carmaker pledged $26 billion in US investments. S. Korea protested the action to the US and said it was trying to secure the release of its citizens. Around 450 people were arrested.”

… The raid and arrests come after months of tense negotiations between the US and S. Korea over tariffs and investment. In late July, the two countries agreed that a 15% tariff rate would be imposed on S. Korean imports in exchange for S. Korea investing $350 billion in the US. S. Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday expressed regret at the detention of Korean nationals at the GA site and said it had conveyed its concerns to the US Embassy.”

… S. Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “The economic activities of our investing companies and the rights and interests of our citizens must not be unjustly infringed during the process of US law enforcement.”

… Economist Paul Novosad: “How stupid is this? Hyundai is building an $8 billion factory in Georgia, and ICE is imprisoning company staff who are on business trips from South Korea. So much for investing in manufacturing!”

… Conservative radio host Erick Erickson: “This is going to have some consequences that will not be good. Arresting South Koreans at a South Korean car facility in Georgia after South Korean dumped in millions to the US economy is a bad look.”

No Bulletin tomorrow as we are heading down to the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival in NH. But I will be back as usual with the full Weekend Bulletin on Sunday night.

This is Bulletin #200! Meidas started on Substack on September 25 so we are approaching our one year anniversary and I started doing these right after that. 775,000 subscribers in that time is very humbling. Can you imagine if you read all 200 Bulletins right in a row like a book? That would be a pretty frightening experience!

Thank you for making it possible for me to sit behind a computer for 12 hours a day to put these together. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… Daily Beast: “The Kennedy Center’s Opera House, which Republicans are hoping to rename after first lady Melania Trump, is expected to be just 4-19% full for the Stuttgart Ballet’s run next month. Another dance troupe, BodyTraffic, is set to perform to a house at 12% capacity in the smaller Eisenhower Theatre in late Oct. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, which has long performed at the center, has taken its show to the Warner Theatre instead.”

… “The Washingtonian also said subscription revenue has plunged roughly 50%. In June, revenue from subscriptions for the upcoming season of programming was already down 36% from the year before. The sales crisis suggests Washingtonians aren’t eager to pay steep ticket prices at the center, hijacked by Trump in Feb, especially as he pushes ahead with his highly unpopular military