I have a bathroom scale that I have been using for several years. I have to say that sometimes the readings do not please me. But I have not thrown out the scale for giving me readings I don’t like. Likely most of us respond similarly when we use scales to check our weight.
It appears that we have a President that would blame the scale for readings he does not like. His recent firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for a report he did not like is truly comparable.
This bureau is a number crunching operation that is considered the international gold standard for gathering statistics on economic labor factors. By directly surveying businesses as to their hiring activity, they have numbers that are considered an important economic health indicator. One of the challenges in gathering the data is that the businesses are not immediately responsive. The process therefore includes several revisions by design.
Despite Trump’s accusations that the numbers were corruptly revised, such revisions are not at all unusual. For example, consider that President Biden endured 13 downward revisions of over 100,000 jobs each during his presidency. There was no firing of anyone at the BLS as a result.
Following this unwarranted action, the possibility of Trump gaming the numbers from the BLS so that they always look good now exists. This not just stops us from having accurate economic information, it can negatively affect financial markets and business investment. Like Trump’s ever-changing tariffs, this adds up to more economic uncertainty.
Additionally, our President apparently does not like the 2024 crime statistics for Washington DC. The number crunchers for DC crime data at the Department of Justice put out the 2024 crime figures in January 2025. The data showed violent crime was down 35% from 2023 to the lowest number in over 30 years.
So, what does “numbers king” Trump do but cite the out-of-date 2023 violent crime rate which was higher (by 35%) to justify sending the National Guard onto the streets of Washington DC. If Trump is true to form on fighting violent crime with the National Guard: Memphis, St. Louis, New Orleans, Cleveland, Detroit, and Baltimore with their higher rates of violent crime than Washington DC need to be ready.
This is not to say that fighting crime cannot benefit from Federal assistance. But it needs to be done in the context of accuracy and local cooperation, not political bullying and gamesmanship.
In the international arena, The President has indicated many times that he wants to gain a Nobel Peace Prize. He continually tries to play up his numbers on being a peacemaker.
However, the question of numbers dishonesty by our President should also be considered in respect to his competency. Consider his latest foray into foreign affairs.
It is possible to think that he sincerely would like to make progress in ending the slaughter in Ukraine. However, after applauding and rolling out the red carpet for indicted war criminal Vladimir Putin to meet with him in Alaska on the Ukraine issue, Trump totally folded on his position to push for a ceasefire. He ended up taking Putin’s position that a ceasefire is not the next step. This was the best-case result for Putin as he can stall on ultimate war ending actions and continue the slaughter in Ukraine. Putin then showed his good will and gratitude to Trump by conducting the largest bombing of Ukraine for the month soon after their meeting.
We really must question this bizarre Trump/Putin bromance. Does “deal maker” Trump think Russia has the potential to be a major economic partner to the US (and himself) and thus he is willing to bend so much to stay in Putin’s good graces?
If so, Trump’s economic numbers are way off. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Russia in 2022 was $2.02 trillion. Texas’ GDP that same year was $2.4 trillion. The per capita GDP for Texas is over $78,000. In Russia, it is just over $12,000. You do the mathematical comparison and tell me why our President thinks catering to his murderous friend makes economic sense, not to mention moralistic sense.
However, the subsequent meeting with the Ukrainian President and key European leaders on top of the Putin show added up to a HUGE media ratings hit. Even though the meetings have resulted in, at best, questionable progress toward ending hostilities, the media blitz helped distract many concerned Americans away from the Jeffrey Epstein saga while allowing Trump to bask in over-the-top butt kissing from the European leaders and Ukrainian President Zelensky. This is the kind of numbers loved by our showman President.
We need to consider that we and the world have a numbers imbecile in the most powerful position in the world - or, are we being played for fools? As for me, I say both are true.
.…By the way, let’s plan to recycle any of our “corrupt” bathroom scales. Trump’s huge tariff increases on aluminum and steel could make them extra valuable….
W Laurence Doxsey, Retired, Former Director of Office of Sustainability for City of San Antonio, former Environmental Officer for US Department of Housing and Urban Development, former Sustainability Officer for City of Austin, resides outside Medina.
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