Donald Trump reportedly picks lawyer Robert Lighthizer as U.S. trade representative

Donald Trump and Melania Trump.
(Image credit: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Trump is expected to tap Robert Lighthizer, a lawyer who served as deputy trade representative under President Ronald Reagan, as head of the U.S. Trade Representative office, a person with knowledge of the decision said Monday.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative oversees trade negotiations, creates international trade and investment policy, and represents American interests at the World Trade Organization. As a partner at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Lighthizer has extensive experience with trade litigation and giving policy advice to major U.S. corporations. Two other people were considered for the position, Bloomberg Politics reports: Jovita Carranza, deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration under President George W. Bush and a onetime executive with UPS, and Dan DiMicco, the former head of Nucor Corp.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.