DevelopingTop White House economic adviser Gary Cohn resigns after opposing Donald Trump’s tariff plan
Donald Trump’s aggressive plan to punish abusers by imposing 25 per cent tariffs on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium, against friend and foe alike, angered US trading partners
Gary Cohn, the top economic adviser to US President Donald Trump and a voice for Wall Street in the White House, said on Tuesday he would resign, a move that came after he lost a fight over Trump’s plans for hefty steel and aluminium import tariffs.
The departure of Cohn, the National Economic Council director, expected to be finalised in a few weeks, will blow a hole in Trump’s advisory team at a time when the economy is growing but stock markets are experiencing surges of volatility.
Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday night he “will be making a decision soon” on replacing Cohn.
Administration officials said Peter Navarro, who is director of the White House National Trade Council, and conservative commentator Larry Kudlow were the “top two candidates” for the job.
White House officials said the tariffs dispute contributed to Cohn’s decision to leave but was not the sole reason.
One official cited several issues and noted: “His biggest mission was on the tax cut bill, which he got passed.”
It was the latest in a series of recent high-profile departures from the White House.