NEW YORK, July 15 — US President Donald Trump has told aides and allies that he is considering removing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross after a Supreme Court defeat on adding a citizenship question to the census, NBC News reported today.

Trump retreated on Thursday from adding a contentious question on citizenship to the 2020 census, but insisted he was not giving up his fight to count how many non-citizens are in the country and ordered government agencies to mine their databases.

Although Trump has previously been frustrated with Ross, in particular over some failed trade negotiations, the 81-year-old commerce secretary has so far kept his job.

However, the network reported early today, that Trump has been making calls to “allies outside the White House about replacing Ross.”

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The White House did not comment to the network.  — Reuters