President Donald Trump noted to reporters that TV economic analyst Larry Kudlow is a top contender to replace national economic council director Gary Cohn.
“I’m looking at Larry Kudlow very strongly. I’ve known him a long time. We don’t agree on everything. In this case I think it’s good. I want a different opinion. He’s come around to believing in tariffs,” the president declared, adding, “He backed me very early in the campaign, I think the earliest. I think he was one of my original backers, he’s a very, very talented man. I’m also speaking to many others. But I think Larry has a very good chance. Thank you all. I’ll see you at the wall. I’ll see you at the wall.”
A source familiar with Trump’s thinking told The Daily Caller Monday evening that Kudlow was at the top of the list. Kudlow worked in the Reagan administration and is not aligned with Trump on all economic policy issues. The TV analyst blasted Trump’s decision to recently enact steel and aluminum tariffs but tampered his criticism recently, predicting that the tariffs will leave many U.S. allies exempt.