This is new. And a big escalation, as the working presumption had been that flunkies were just sucking up to an upset narcissist. It being a direct order is magnitudes worse. (and yes, add it to the impeachment offenses list)
Prior reporting on Ross threatening staffers: https://www.resetera.com/threads/ny...ter-trump’s-dorian-tweets-sources-say.140027/
President Trump told his staff that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration needed to correct a tweet that seemed to contradict his statement that Hurricane Dorian posed a significant threat to Alabama as of Sept. 1, in contrast to what the agency's forecasters were predicting at the time. This led chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to call Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to tell him to fix the issue, senior administration officials said.
Trump had complained for several days about it, according to senior officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Mulvaney then called Ross but did not instruct him to threaten any firings or make any punitive threats, officials said. He simply told Ross that the agency needed to fix the matter immediately, leading to a new statement that was issued Friday, Sept. 6. The New York Times reported some elements of these events earlier Wednesday.
The NOAA statement criticized the agency's Birmingham Weather Forecast Office for issuing a definitive tweet on Sept. 1 that there would not be "any" impacts from Dorian in the state.
Prior reporting on Ross threatening staffers: https://www.resetera.com/threads/ny...ter-trump’s-dorian-tweets-sources-say.140027/