White House says Kudlow to be adviser to president
CNBC commentator also was against steel tariffs
WASHINGTON – President Trump tapped CNBC commentator Larry Kudlow on Wednesday to head his National Economic Council, the post vacated by Gary Cohn after he opposed the president’s steel tariffs.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the move after it was first reported by Kudlow’s network. She said the timing of the appointment hadn’t been determined.
Kudlow, whom Trump has described as a “good friend,” emerged as the leading candidate for the post even though he, too, opposed Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. But Trump has said he and Kudlow have come to an understanding on the issue.
“He now has come around to believing in tariffs as also a negotiating point. I’m renegotiating trade deals, and without tariffs we wouldn’t do nearly as well,” Trump said Tuesday.
Trump has also noted Kudlow was one of the first economists to back his 2016 campaign for president. Kudlow served as an informal economic adviser to the campaign and helped push for the tax cut plan the Trump administration passed through Congress last year.
Kudlow, 70, worked in the Reagan administration as associate director for economics and planning at the Office of Management and Budget. As director of Trump’s National Economics Council, he would likely be the president’s most visible voice on issues of jobs, taxes and trade.
Before joining CNBC, Kudlow was chief economist at investment bank Bear Stearns & Co.
In 1994, Kudlow publicly acknowledged to The New York Times that he had developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol at Bear Stearns but that he had undergone 15 months of treatment at that point to kick the habits.
Kudlow’s official title will be assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council. The post does not require Senate confirmation.