President Donald Trump is proud of the state of the economy under his leadership, and he's ensuring that the intelligent people he trusts are in charge of the agency that handles economic statistics.

According to the Associated Press, Trump announced this week that he has nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to head up the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Antoni, if confirmed, would replace Erika McEntarfer, who was hired by former President Joe Biden to head up the BLS. She was ultimately fired by President Trump after a report last month showed a downturn in hiring this spring.

President Trump went as far as accusing McEntarfer of "rigging" the BLS data for political purposes, though at the time he didn't provide proof, and many of his supporters also share the same opinion.

What's happening?

Upon announcing Antoni's nomination, Trump doubled down on his insistence that the previous numbers have not been accurate or fair to his administration.

"Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "I know E.J. Antoni will do an incredible job in this new role. Congratulations E.J.!"

President Trump said he was nominating economist E.J. Antoni as the new Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, 10 days after firing the agency's previous leader following a weak scorecard of the job market https://t.co/NgjKjl8Mr0 pic.twitter.com/u0sClN7uXI

— Reuters (@Reuters) August 12, 2025

The AP noted:

The announcement comes one day before the BLS is scheduled to release the latest inflation data, for July. It is forecast to show that consumer prices rose for the third straight month as tariffs are pushing up the cost of many imported goods.

According to Fox Business, earlier this month, Antoni criticized the previous BLS director's data as unreliable.

"How on earth are businesses supposed to plan – or how is the Fed supposed to conduct monetary policy – when they don’t know how many jobs are being added or lost in our economy? It’s a serious problem that needs to be fixed immediately," he said at the time.

Social media reacts

Unfortunately for the president, many were not thrilled with Antoni's nomination, as he is reportedly one of the people involved in "Project 2025."

"On top of being the Heritage Foundation’s Chief Economist, E.J. Antoni is literally the 5th Contributor named in Project 2025. You can’t make this up. Trump is seeking to put the BLS — and America’s economic data — in the hands of a Project 2025 extremist," Ahmed Baba wrote on X.

"Scary. Horrifying. And will hopefully be their downfall as the rest of the world realizes nothing US says will be reliable any more," another X user wrote.