President Donald Trump recently boasted about something that many leaders will not see as a successful move. Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEOs luncheon in Gyeongju, South Korea this week, Trump proudly said that his administration has not created a single government job since he took office.
His comments, made during a time when federal employees continue to work without pay during a prolonged government shutdown stood out even more as he said that the US has seen a lot of growth in the private sector, which is a real proof of success.
“One hundred percent of all new jobs created in America under my administration have been created by the private sector,” Trump said during his keynote address. “Think of that. The government created no new jobs. The private sector created the record number of jobs that we’re talking about. That’s a country, that’s really a success.”
Trump told the audience he could have easily boosted employment figures by adding government workers, but he refused to do so. “It’s easy to create government jobs. I could say, ‘Add a lot of people to your payrolls,’ I could fake up the numbers if I want, but that’s not the way you build a great country.”
He accused his predecessors of inflating employment figures for political gain. “That’s what they used to do under the Biden administration, under Barack Hussein Obama,” Trump said. “They’d say, ‘Hire a lot of people so we can make our numbers look good.’ I do the opposite.”
His comments came just a week after he set a record for presiding over the longest combined government shutdowns in U.S. history. Between this month’s stoppage and the historic 35-day shutdown of 2018–19, Trump has now overseen more days of government closure than any previous leader. The latest shutdown has left thousands of federal employees on the job without pay, as agencies struggle to operate without funding.
The country’s largest federal workers’ union has called for an immediate end to the shutdown, citing the financial strain on families and essential operations. Some employees, including air traffic controllers, have gone weeks without pay.
In an unusual turn, the Trump administration accepted a $130 million donation from billionaire Timothy Mellon to cover active-duty service member salaries during the crisis. But Democrats quickly criticized the move, arguing that the sum would barely cover a fraction of the wages owed to over one million soldiers.
President Trump Delivers Keynote Remarks at APEC CEOs Luncheon https://t.co/tQrCaeEAfv
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 29, 2025
Trump’s second term began with his recruitment of Tesla CEO Elon Musk to lead a new agency called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The department was launched with the promise to “hack and slash” through the federal bureaucracy and save taxpayer money. Instead, its cost-cutting crusade spiraled out of control. According to reports, DOGE burned through $21.7 billion in taxpayer funds while laying off thousands of public servants.
The fallout left key agencies crippled. The Internal Revenue Service, facing critical staff shortages, was forced to backtrack on layoffs. The General Services Administration reportedly begged hundreds of dismissed employees to return to work in order to keep basic operations running. DOGE, allegedly, now stands as a symbol of waste and misplaced priorities in Trump’s second term.
Meanwhile, U.S. employment numbers have also shown signs of strain. Job growth slowed, and unemployment crept upward, leading to Trump lashing out at his own officials. Earlier this year, he fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accusing the agency of manipulating the data. “RIGGED,” Trump wrote in a statement, claiming the bureau’s figures were designed “to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.”
Despite Trump’s claims of creating real success in America, historical comparisons do not favor him at all. During his first term, the U.S. economy shed roughly 2.7 million jobs, while unemployment jumped to 6.4 percent, according to FactCheck.org.
Now, as the government shutdown continues, Trump is going on foreign trips and destroying The White House to build his ridiculously expensive ballroom. With federal workers finding it difficult to make both ends meet the country might soon run into serious troubles with ceased operations in multiple sectors if the government does not come up with a way to end the shutdown.
