Gary Cohn Quits Trump White House Post
Gary Cohn Image by Getty Images
Top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, a Wall Street banker who became a key architect of the 2017 tax overhaul and a bulwark against protectionist forces within the Trump administration, is resigning the post.
“It has been an honor to serve my country and enact pro-growth economic policies to benefit the American people, in particular the passage of historic tax reform. I am grateful to the President for giving me this opportunity and wish him and the Administration great success in the future,” Cohn said in a statement issued by the White House.
Cohn, a former Wall Street executive, has feuded with economic populists in the White House. He lost a key battle when Trump announced a decision to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, a move that many economists oppose.
Trump had claimed that Cohn had no plans to quit over the move.
He is the latest top adviser to leave or be fired from the president’s inner circle in the 14 months since Trump took office.
Cohn criticized Trump for his comments after Charlottesville that equated white supremacists with their left wing opponents. But he resisted pressure to quit at that time.
Cohn, a Democrat, had aligned himself with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who are both senior White House advisers and like Cohn, are seen as centrists.
Business lobbyists frequently cited Cohn as their strongest ally in the White House.
“Gary Cohn deserves credit for serving his country in a first class way. I’m sure I join many others who are disappointed to see him leave,” Lloyd Blankfein, the chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs and Cohn’s former boss, said on Twitter.
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