The top economic adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as the White House voice for Wall Street, announced on Tuesday that he is going to resign.
Gary Cohn’s decision comes after he got in a dispute with Trump regarding the president’s plans for steel and aluminum import tariffs.
According to Reuters, the departure of Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, was expected to be finalized in a few weeks and will blow a hole in Trump’s already depleted advisory team at a time when the economy is growing but markets are volatile.
In a tweet on Tuesday night, Trump announced that he “will be making a decision soon” regarding the replacement of Cohn. Peter Navarro, the director of the White House National Trade Council, and conservative commentator Larry Kudlow apparently are the “top two candidates” for the job, administration officials reported.
White House officials also said that the tariffs issue led to Cohn’s decision to resign, however, it was not the sole reason.
“His biggest mission was on the tax cut bill, which he got passed,” Reuters reported, citing an official.
This is the latest resignation in a series of high-profile departures from the White House, which Trump soft-pedaled on Tuesday.
When asked at a news conference with the Swedish prime minister about the resignations, Trump said that “many, many people want every single job. … I could take any position in the White House and I’ll have a choice of the 10 top people having to do with that position. Everybody wants to be there.”
President Trump also tweeted that he will be choosing the new Chief Economic Advisor soon.
“Will be making a decision soon on the appointment of new Chief Economic Advisor. Many people wanting the job – will choose wisely!”
White House communications director Hope Hicks and communications official Josh Raffel also announced their resignations in the last week.
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