National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn has resigned, the White House said Tuesday. He will "leave in the coming weeks," The New York Times reported. Cohn was President Trump's chief economic adviser, though he had differed with the president on a variety of issues, including Trump's surprise announcement of steep tariffs last week.
Cohn "did a superb job in driving our agenda, helping to deliver historic tax cuts and reforms and unleashing the American economy once again," Trump said in a statement. A former Goldman Sachs executive, Cohn had been a force in favor of free trade in the White House. The Times noted that rumors Cohn would resign last August, following Trump's controversial response to a white nationalist rally in Virginia, "sent the financial markets tumbling," and Tuesday's news "could have a ripple effect on ... the financial sector."
Cohn's departure follows last week's announcement that Hope Hicks would step down as White House communications director, as well as the firing of former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter, in the latest high-profile exits from the Trump administration. Trump himself had hinted at more personnel turnover earlier Tuesday, tweeting that "people will always come and go."