Trump's tariff announcement might be the final straw for his top economic adviser

Gary Cohn.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

President Trump's top economic adviser, who spent months trying to keep Trump from imposing steep tariffs, might not be sticking around much longer.

Gary Cohn is one of the few moderates in Trump's White House, and rumors have long swirled that he's been close to leaving. Trump announced Thursday he will enact a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports, after Cohn tried, in a last-ditch effort, to convince him on Wednesday not to go through with his plan, several people told Politico. Cohn is "passionate" in his belief that "protectionism is economically backward and won't lead to increased prosperity," Politico reports, and several other members of the Trump administration, including National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, agreed with him.

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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.