Veteran CNBC contributor Larry Kudlow announced on Wednesday that he would accept the job of White House chief economic adviser and director of the National Economic Council that was recently vacated by Gary Cohn.
“My immediate reaction was yes, honored to take the job, which was last night,” said Kudlow on “Closing Bell” Wednesday.
Trump has been a longtime fan of Kudlow with whom he became acquainted with from watching him on CNBC.
Like Trump, Kudlow has hosted his own program in the NBC family, “The Kudlow Report,” and the two men are known to be close. In addition to serving as an informal adviser to Trump through the campaign, Kudlow helped craft the president’s tax reform bill which was signed into law last year.
Despite his personal closeness to Trump, Kudlow is much closer in outlook to his predecessor in the job, Gary Cohn.
The CNBC contributor has come out strongly against the president’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, but in recent days has suggested he may be open to deploying tariffs as a negotiating tactic.