| From D.C. crime rates to the census to labor trends, the administration has suppressed inconvenient data and conjured inaccurate statistics to bolster policy objectives. This story is reported and written by The Washington Post’s Cat Zakrzewski, David Ovalle, Scott Dance and Laura Meckler. Read their full story here. President Donald Trump presented inaccurate crime statistics to justify a federal takeover of D.C. police. He announced plans for the census to stop counting undocumented immigrants. And he ordered the firing of the official in charge of compiling basic statistics about the U.S. economy after a weak jobs report. This month marked an escalation in Trump’s war on data, as he repeatedly tries to undermine statistics that threaten his agenda and distorts figures to bolster his policies. The latest instances come on top of actions the administration has taken across federal health, climate and education agencies to erase or overhaul data collection to align with the administration’s agenda and worldview. The president’s manipulation of government data threatens to erode public trust in facts that leaders of both parties have long relied on to guide policy decisions. A breakdown in official government statistics could also create economic instability, restrain lifesaving health care and limit forecasts of natural disasters. Trump has routinely spread misinformation since the start of his political career, but his efforts in his second term to bend data to support his agenda have invited comparisons to information control in autocratic countries. “What he’s trying to do is to present the best possible picture of what he’s doing, even if that means he has to cook the numbers, even if that means he has to distort the data,” said Robert Cropf, a political science professor at St. Louis University. “It’s basically a page from the authoritarian playbook.” Trump has also tried to use his social media megaphone to influence data produced by private companies. On Monday, he called for Goldman Sachs to replace a veteran economist who produced reports that warned that tariffs could cause inflation. But he may find himself in a game of whack-a-mole: On Thursday, a benchmark that measures the prices producers get for goods and services showed hotter-than-expected inflation, partly because of tariffs. Trump has not commented yet on the report. Other countries have demonstrated the risk of undermining statistics, which can erode citizens’ trust in their government and nations’ standing in the international community. China has been widely accused of inflating economic figures, prompting other countries to seek alternative data sources for a more trustworthy picture of nation’s financial situation. In Greece, the government produced false deficit numbers for years, and the government repeatedly sought to criminally prosecute the statistician who produced accurate budget figures. Argentina manipulated economic statistics for years to minimize the extent of inflation, even as consumers paid for more significantly expensive groceries and goods. The false deficit numbers in Greece contributed to the country’s debt crisis. The cooked numbers in Argentina made it more difficult for the government to enact policies that could limit inflation, and citizens lost faith in the ability to trust the government data to inform major purchases. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said that the president’s actions are intended to “restore” Americans’ trust in data so they can make their own decisions. “President Trump is preserving — not eroding — democracy by ensuring that the American people can rely on government data that actually reflects reality,” Rogers said in a statement. Government statistics have traditionally been considered more reliable and comprehensive than those collected by private sector companies motivated by profits, said Paul Schroeder, the executive director of the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics. The data is needed to provide an accurate picture of what is happening. Without it, governments, corporations and individuals lack information that can inform decisions about everything from mortgage rates to weight loss. “It’s almost like an airline pilot losing his instrument panel when driving the plane,” Schroeder said of the erosion. Trump’s decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer was widely condemned by statisticians and economists, who warned that the move could have a chilling effect on the work of federal number crunchers who produce reports the president doesn’t like. Trump claimed without evidence that the nation’s job statistics were “rigged,” following a revision to the May and June jobs figures that showed the labor market was weaker than previously known. Revisions to job reports are common, but many economists have acknowledged falling response rates to government surveys, and long-standing budget strains have made it harder for economic agencies to collect and analyze reliable data. Read the full story here. | 
