Word leaked from the White House last week that chief economic adviser Gary Cohn had threatened to resign over Trump’s spontaneous and poorly thought-out tariffs on steel and aluminum. Though Sarah Sanders denied that Cohn was heading for the exit … he’s heading for the exit.
The departure of Mr. Cohn, a free-trade oriented Democrat who fended off a number of nationalist-minded policies during his year in the Trump administration, could have a ripple effect on the president’s economic decisions and on the financial sector.
Even the mere threat, last August, that Mr. Cohn might leave sent the financial markets tumbling.
Last week saw the departure of Trump’s communication director and “real daughter” Hope Hicks, along with reports that national security adviser H.R. McMaster and Attorney General Jefferson Sessions were also fumbling toward a departure.
Donald Trump visited today with former UN ambassador and rogue walrus John Bolton, who may be slotted to replace McMaster … or fill any of the other slots in the increasingly vacant White House.
Cohn has supposedly been under consideration to replace John Kelly as chief of staff in a giant game of musical chairs. But instead, the music is playing him right out the door.