by WorldTribune Staff, March 7, 2018
From coal to steel, economic “globalist” Gary Cohn battled it out with supporters of President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda, a report said.
Cohn resigned from his post as White House economic adviser on March 6 after playing a key role in pushing through the Trump administration’s historic tax cut.
Cohn “reopened the U.S. government’s war on coal in direct contravention of directions” from Trump, John Binder noted in a report for Breitbart News.
The former Goldman Sachs COO once told the press on Air Force One that “Coal doesn’t even make that much sense anymore as a feedstock. Natural gas, which we have become an abundant producer, which we’re going to become a major exporter is, is such a cleaner fuel.”
Cohn, a proponent of free trade, also “tried to get Trump to water down his actions against China and on trade, in general,” the Breitbart report said.
He also advocated for the Trump administration to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement, describing the president in May 2017 as “evolving” on the issue.
“His views are evolving, which is exactly what they should be,” Cohn told reporters during a press briefing in Sicily at the G7 summit.
Trump went on to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement.
Cohn also promoted the “job-killing” Trans-Pacific Partnership, coming out on the other side of an issue that was a key motivator for Trump voters in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the Breitbart report noted.
Cohn also led “a last-ditch effort” against Trump’s plan “to put modest tariffs on imported steel and aluminum,” the report said, adding that Cohn had, according to a person familiar with the matter, attempted to organize a “summit” of business leaders opposed to the tariffs.
“Executives at companies that use the metals to build their products, including automakers and other manufacturing companies, have expressed a desire to meet with Trump to head off the tariffs,” Breitbart reported.
Trump on March 5 said “we’re not backing down” on the plan to put a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum.
After Cohn’s announcement that he was resigning, Trump issued a statement saying: “Gary has been my chief economic adviser and did a superb job in driving our agenda, helping to deliver historic tax cuts and reforms and unleashing the American economy once again. He is a rare talent, and I thank him for his dedicated service to the American people.”
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