President Donald Trump says he "did the right thing" by having his team remove the head of the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures, after a weak report showed hiring slowed and was much weaker in April and May than previously reported. "I had issues with the numbers for a long time," Trump said to reporters on the White House's South Lawn. "But today, we're doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony." "So, you know what I did? I fired her. And you know, what? I did the right thing," he said. Trump alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, should be fired. He provided no evidence for the charge. “I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on Truth Social. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.” Trump later posted: “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.” The charge that the data was faked is an explosive one that threatens to undercut the political legitimacy of the U.S. government's economic data, which has long been seen as the “gold standard” of economic measurement globally. Economists and Wall Street investors have long accepted the data as free from political bias. Trump’s move to fire McEntarfer represented another extraordinary assertion of presidential power. He has wielded the authority of the White House to try to control the world’s international trade system, media companies, America’s top universities and Congress’ constitutional power of the purse, among other institutions.