Larry Kudlow To Succeed Gary Cohn as Top Trump Economic Adviser

Larry Kudlow speaks on the set of CNBC at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange on March 8, 2018. Image by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images

By Nathan Guttman March 14, 2018

Larry Kudlow, a conservative cable news analyst, will step in as Trump’s top economic adviser following the resignation of Gary Cohn.

Kudlow, who until now worked as an economic pundit for CNBC, has been close to Trump for years and kept in touch with him after the elections. Trump phoned Kudlow Tuesday night and offered him to chair the White House National Economic Council. Kudlow agreed.

Kudlow, like his predecessor Gary Cohn, disagrees with Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from certain countries. But Trump said Wednesday that this should not be an obstacle. “We don’t agree on everything but in this case I think that’s good. I want to have a divergent opinion. We agree on most,” said Trump.

Kudlow, who is 70, was raised in New Jersey to a Jewish family. After his bar mitzvah, Kudlow became non-practicing. In 1997, following a personal struggle with substance addiction, he converted to the Roman Catholic faith and is now an active church member.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.