President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that economist and CNBC contributor Larry Kudlow has “a very good chance” at replacing Gary Cohn, the outgoing director of the White House National Economic Council.
“I’m looking at Larry Kudlow very strongly,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to California. “He now has come around to believing in tariffs.”
The president may name the 70-year-old Kudlow as his top economic adviser within a day or so, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday. Trump has spoken by phone with Kudlow about the economic adviser role a couple of times in recent days, including once over the weekend, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The people familiar with Trump’s deliberations cautioned that he hasn’t made a final decision and could change his mind. Two other people described Kudlow as being among those being considered as replacements for Cohn. All of the people asked not to be identified discussing the matter.
Kudlow is already an informal adviser who occasionally speaks to the president, one of the people said. In addition to his duties at CNBC, where he is a senior contributor, Kudlow is a radio host, syndicated columnist and entrepreneur. He was an economist for Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. and served in President Ronald Reagan’s administration.
Other people whose names have been mentioned as part of the search include White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, Deputy Director for Economic Policy Shahira Knight, Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Stephen Moore, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
(c) 2018, Bloomberg · Jennifer Jacobs, Toluse Olorunnipa
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