Mixed economic data puts Trump’s agenda at risk

President Donald Trump received some rosy news on Friday morning when the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report showing that the US economy added 177,000 jobs in April. This came the month that Trump announced his “liberation day” tariffs, which he eventually paused while still keeping an across-the-board IO percent tariff and a whopping overall |45 percent tariff on China. Not surprisingly, the president took the moment to gloat. “Gasoline just broke $1.98 a gallon, lowest in years, groceries (and eggs!) down, energy down, mortgage rates down, employment strong, and much more good news, as Billions of Dollars pour in from Tariffs," the president said on Truth Social.

- Eric Garcia, The Independent

Of course, gas is nowhere near as low as $1.98 a gallon. There is little evidence that the United States has raked in billions of tariff dollars, and while oil dropped to below $60 a barrel on Friday, that can also be a cause for alarm that demand is down. For the bad developments, Trump repeated his blame of Joe Biden made earlier this week amid news that America’s gross domestic product shrank during the first quarter of 2025. He also repeated his desire for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. ‘Just like | said ... we're only in a TRANSITION STAGE, just getting started!!! Consumers have been waiting for years to see pricing come down. NO INFLATION, THE FED SHOULD LOWER ITS RATE!!!” he urged.