Trump taps Goldman Sachs exec to head his economic council
President-elect, who blasted the banks during campaign, selects Gary Cohn, a fourth senior staffer to have worked for financial giant
President-elect Donald Trump formally tapped Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn for a top White House economic post.
Cohn will serve as director of the National Economic Council, heading a department with a key role in economic policymaking. The post does not require Senate confirmation.
Former president Bill Clinton established the council in 1993 to advise the president on domestic and global economic policy. It has been led by former Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, and former Federal Reserve governor Larry Lindsey.
In a statement put out by his transition team, Trump said Cohn will “put his talents as a highly successful businessman to work for the American people” and will serve as his “top economic adviser.”
Cohn said in the statement that “being chosen to serve in the President-elect’s administration is a great honor,” while adding that he “share[s] President-elect Trump’s vision of making sure every American worker has a secure place in a thriving economy, and we will be completely committed to building a nation of strength, growth and prosperity.”
https://twitter.com/transition2017/status/808401945102843904
Cohn, who was born to a Jewish family, is from Shaker Heights, Ohio, and joined Goldman Sachs in 1990, overseeing its fixed income, currency and commodities division and rising to the bank’s second most senior position in 2006 beneath CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
Trump was critical of Goldman Sachs during the presidential campaign, lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for giving paid speeches to the Wall Street giant, and, in one video, singled out Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein as being part of a “global power structure.” But he’s now chosen three people with ties to the bank for his administration, including Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary nominee, and Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist and senior counselor.
