Who is Larry Kudlow? Former Democrat Turned Conservative Republican in Line for Top White House Economic Job
President Donald Trump has expressed an interest in making media personality Larry Kudlow director of the White House’s National Economic Council once Gary Cohn leaves, according to three sources close to the president.
The president confided the decision to those close to him on Monday, CNN reported. Although nothing has been formally announced, one of the sources said that Trump will likely make the appointment within the next 24 hours. Another revealed that Kudlow is currently the top contender for the role.
Kudlow, 70, a conservative commentator, economist analyst and host of The Kudlow Report on CNBC, acted as an informal adviser to Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. Sources told CNN that Trump and Kudlow have been chatting in recent weeks, but a job offer has yet to be made.
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Kudlow, who identifies as a conservative Republican, was once a Democrat. In the 1970s he supported Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the New York Senate race and Joe Duffy for the U.S. Senate.
Sources claim Kudlow has also been on the phone with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Jared Kushner, which indicates the selection process is well on its way.
Kudlow and Trump have a lot in common, personally and politically. The pair have both hosted TV shows, cherish being in the spotlight and have hard-charging, impatient personalities.
However, in recent months, Kudlow has been publicly critical of Trump’s decision to import tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Earlier this month, he co-wrote a column for National Review urging the president to change his mind.
“Trump should also examine the historical record on tariffs. If he does he’ll see they have almost never worked as intended and have almost always delivered an unhappy ending,” he wrote, alongside Steve Moore and Arthur Laffer.
This kind of dissent would usually disqualify a candidate from a position in the Trump administration, but sources told The Washington Post that the president has not ruled him out.
Former Goldman Sachs president Cohn announced his resignation from the National Economic Council last week, after losing a fight with the president over the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Kudlow did not immediately respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.