Trump may pick Treasury’s Malpass to lead World Bank
The Trump administration has notified World Bank shareholders that President Donald Trump intends to pick senior Treasury Department official David Malpass as the US nominee to lead the development lender, people familiar with the decision said on Monday.
The nomination of Malpass would put a Trump loyalist and a skeptic of multilateral institutions in line to lead the World Bank, which committed nearly $64 billion to developing countries in the year ended June 30, 2018.
Politico, which first reported the decision, said it would be announced on Wednesday, citing unidentified administration officials. Spokespersons for the White House and the US Treasury declined comment.
A European diplomatic source said the Trump administration had notified several capitals of the Malpass nomination, adding that European shareholders of the bank were not likely to block it.
Malpass, or any other US nominee, would still need to win approval from the World Bank’s 12-member executive board. While the US holds a controlling 16 per cent share of board voting power and has traditionally chosen the World Bank's leader, challengers could emerge. If approved, Malpass, the US Treasury's top diplomat as undersecretary for international affairs, would replace physician and former university president Jim Yong Kim in the role.