Podcast Summary: "The Jobs Report Trump Doesn’t Want You to See"

Podcast: Bulwark Takes
Host(s): Josh Barro, Sarah Longwell
Date: November 7, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Bulwark Takes delivers sharp, timely analysis of the latest jobs report under President Trump’s administration—a report the hosts argue he wouldn’t want people to see. Josh Barro and Sarah Longwell break down the economic numbers now sourced from private sector firms (due to government suppression), the political and social repercussions of these figures, the chaotic implementation of tariffs, and the lingering damage to American institutions and trust. They also explore the looming economic impact of AI—an area they say Trump is ignoring.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Job Losses: The Stark Numbers

• [01:00] Josh Barro sets the stage: Government unemployment reports have ceased, leaving private-sector firms like Challenger, Gray & Christmas to fill the void. Their latest report is grim:
  • 153,074 job cuts in October—up 175% from the previous year under Biden.
  • Over 1.1 million jobs lost since Trump took office (net decline).
• Sarah Longwell [01:32]:
  • “It is 1.1 million jobs lost in total this year. So since Donald Trump took office, we have experienced a net decline of over a million jobs. That is bad. That's bad.”
  • Blames the administration’s cronyism: The Trump inner circle is getting richer while the general public is getting poorer.

2. The Economic Backdrop: Why Are Jobs Disappearing?

• [03:36] Josh Barro highlights Challenger, Gray & Christmas’s explanations:
  • Post-pandemic hiring corrections
  • Increased AI adoption leading to lost jobs
  • "Belt-tightening" due to softening consumer and corporate spending
  • Rising costs, hiring freezes
• Josh Barro [04:00]:
  • “On unemployment is now increasing. And what that is going to do is it's going to lower wages. Right. Supply and demand. When, when there are more people seeking jobs than there than there are jobs, the employers can pay less for them.”
  • Fed faces a bind: The economy is cooling, but inflation is not fully under control.

3. Tariffs, Chaos, and Economic Paralysis

• [05:16] Sarah Longwell hammers tariffs as a root cause:
  • Trump’s approach: erratic, unpredictable tariffs push U.S. firms into “economic paralysis.”
  • Manufacturing sector, in particular, is suffering.
  • She connects growing layoffs at firms like Target and UPS to policies reminiscent of the 2003 or 2009 economic downturns.
• Josh Barro [06:49]:
  • “We are in a man made disaster. And this is, it's, it's everything. It is the tariffs. It's not just the tariffs but the way in which the tariffs have been implemented. Where it's on again, off again, it's capricious. … it is chaos which freezes people.”

4. The Broken Political System: Filibuster & Congressional Paralysis

• [08:44] Sarah Longwell—previously a filibuster supporter—now advocates for eliminating it to prevent overconcentration of executive power and force legislative accountability for Trump’s tariffs.
  • “The actual thing that [the filibuster] is accomplishing is total paralysis of Congress. My other conservative instinct is to hate too much power in the hands of the executive.”
• [09:49] Josh Barro: “The House is out of discussion.”
• Both agree: Congress must bear electoral responsibility for economic decisions, not just the President.

5. Erosion of Institutional Trust & Government Transparency

• [10:48] Josh Barro draws a China comparison:
  • In the Trump era, data is suppressed if politically inconvenient.
  • This lack of transparency erodes trust in both government and the U.S. as a reliable global economic player.
• Sarah Longwell [12:48]:
  • “You build trust over decades, you can lose [it]...”
  • Notes, optimistically, the private sector keeps Americans somewhat informed (unlike China), but institutional damage is severe.

6. AI’s Impact and the Leadership Vacuum

• [14:26] Sarah Longwell spotlights AI’s role in white-collar job losses—a major driver in the latest reports—and slams Trump for ignoring it.
  • “It's amazing to me how little Trump and this administration talk about AI. ...A lot of them are white collar jobs that used to be in research. They're just getting replaced by AI.”
  • Calls for Democrats to seize the initiative with concrete plans: Invest in sectors where AI can’t easily replace humans (education, healthcare, social work), retrain workers, and address the future head-on.
• Josh Barro’s sarcastic solution [16:05]:
  • “My plan: we send ChatGPT on a Falcon Heavy into the sun.”
  • Both hosts agree tech disruption can’t be ignored or wished away.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Sarah Longwell, on the economic pain:
  “Everybody in immediate proximity to Trump is getting richer, while the vast majority of Americans are getting poorer and people are losing their jobs.” [02:21]

• Josh Barro, on economic chaos:
  “Instead we have economic paralysis. Nobody knows what to do. Because the thing that is today, well, if Donald Trump sees a commercial during the World Series that he doesn't like, tomorrow he's going to change the tariff rate.” [07:24]

• Sarah Longwell, on Congressional dysfunction:
  “The filibuster has made Congress, along with Trump, right? Has made it so that Congress is dysfunctional, they cannot do anything, and so everything ends up in the hands of executive power.” [09:01]

• Josh Barro, on the consequences for trust:
  “Isn't this long term a gigantic problem for America because you can't just go back… if 40,000 voters in Wisconsin go the other way next time around, then we have to stop trusting government. Like how, how does that work?” [11:55]

• Sarah Longwell, on AI and workforce planning:
  “...We need to invest in educating people for the new environment where AI can do these things. And somebody with a plan for that I think can go far.” [15:40]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:00 | Government stops publishing jobs data; private firms step in| | 01:32 | 1.1 million net jobs lost since Trump took office | | 03:36 | Challenger, Gray & Christmas report analysis | | 05:16 | Tariffs, erratic policy, and economic contraction | | 08:44 | Filibuster, Congressional dysfunction, executive overreach | | 10:48 | Comparison to China, suppression of data, trust erosion | | 14:26 | AI job losses, political blind spots, and future policy | | 16:05 | Sarcastic "solution" to AI disruption |

Overall Tone & Style

The tone: sharply critical, often wry or sarcastic, and deeply concerned about both economic realities and the. state of American democracy. The hosts balance data-driven analysis with pointed, accessible commentary and the occasional biting joke.

Conclusion

This episode is a candid, sometimes caustic exploration of economic pain in Trump’s America, linking job losses to erratic policy and democratic erosion. Barro and Longwell warn of the dangers of suppressed data and institutional damage, but retain some hope that transparency, accountability, and forward-looking policy—especially around AI—can eventually repair both trust and the economy.