Trump has a go-to playbook if the numbers reveal uncomfortable realities, and that’s to discredit or conceal the figures and to attack the messenger — all of which can hurt the president’s efforts to convince the world that America is getting stronger.

Trump abruptly fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday after the release of the report, claiming that the Biden-era appointee’s work analyzing the granular data of America’s economy was “faked” and could not be trusted.