President Trump's early jobs tweet leads to criticism from Obama officials
"Looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning," he tweeted. The problem: The president's tweet came before the release of the report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which breaks protocol about not commenting on the report before its public release. Trump's tweet hinted a positive report, providing a signal to markets. Presidents typically get to see the numbers the day before, per a longstanding tradition. Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, confirmed that he told the president about the numbers on Thursday night aboard Air Force One. Friday morning's report was indeed positive: U.S. employers added 223,000 jobs in May, and the unemployment rate slipped to an 18-year-low of 3.8%. Kudlow told reporters that the president did not reveal the details of the report and said it was no big deal that he tweeted a preview of its release. “Why not?” Kudlow said. “He didn’t give any numbers.” Still, Jason Furman, a Harvard Ken...