In a White House
marked by infighting, top economic aide Gary Cohn,
a Democrat and former Goldman Sachs banker, is muscling aside some of President Donald Trump’s hard-right advisers to push more moderate, business-friendly economic policies.
Cohn, 56, did not work on Republican Trump’s campaign and only got to know him after the November election, but
he has emerged as one of the administration’s most powerful players in an ascent that rankles conservatives.
Trump refers to his director of the National Economic Council (NEC), as “one of my geniuses,” according to one source close to Cohn.
More than half a dozen sources on Wall Street and in the White House said
Cohn has gained the upper hand over Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, the former head of the right-wing website Breitbart News and a champion of protectionist trade opposed by moderate Republicans and many big companies.
Crucially,
Cohn also has the trust of Jared Kushner, Trump's adviser and son-in-law, and his wife Ivanka, Trump's daughter.
The son of middle-class parents in Cleveland, Ohio, Cohn overcame dyslexia and worked in sales before elbowing his way into a position as a Wall Street trader and
rising to become president and chief operating officer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N).
Kushner was a Goldman Sachs intern when he first crossed paths with Cohn. After Trump's election victory,
Kushner paved the way for Cohn to meet the president-elect, who had spent much of the campaign blasting investment banks as modern-day robber barons. Trump soon named Cohn his NEC director.
Apparently paying more heed to Cohn and other moderates on his team,
Trump last week said he was open to reappointing Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chairman when her term is up and he also held back from naming China a currency manipulator.
Both stances marked a reversal from his campaign when Trump criticized Yellen and vowed to label China a currency manipulator on "day one" of his administration, a move that could lead to punitive duties on Chinese goods.
Sources close to Cohn and inside the White House said there are sharp policy differences between Cohn and both Bannon and Reince Priebus, White House chief of staff.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cohn-idUSKBN17I0RD
