Larry Kudlow “Leading Contender” To Replace Gary Cohn: Report

The story with Gary Cohn’s replacement is becoming increasingly fluid.

In the days after the resignation of the Goldman COO as head of Trump’s National Economic Council, we have seen an avalanche of names who were supposed to fill Cohn’s shoes. First, it was Peter Navarro, and while media reports suggested that he is not being considered, other reports said that he would take the role if offered.

Then, Politico reported that Cohn himself had picked Shahira Knight – a former Hill staffer, ex-lobbyist and the NEC’s resident tax expert  — as his replacement, although on Sunday the NYT reported that she was not interested in the opportunity. At the same time, the NYT also reported that Christopher P. Liddell – a New Zealand businessman who works as an assistant to Trump and director of strategic initiatives, and who was CFO of Microsoft previously – was the frontrunner for Cohn’s spot.

And now, we go back to square one as CNBC’s Jim Cramer reports that Larry Kudlow, the man who was originally mentioned as the logical replecement for Gary Cohn, is once again the front runner to lead Trump’s National Economic Council “and would take the job if offered it.”

According to CNBC, while Trump has not formally offered the job, “Kudlow is a leading choice of not only Trump but also some of his advisors.”

Kudlow, a long-time supporter of Trump, helped to craft economic policy during the Reagan administration.

The market’s reaction was initially favorable to the news, due to Kudlow’s well-known opposition to Trump’s import tariffs and trade wars, however the modest bounce appears to now be fading.