WASHINGTON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that economic analyst Larry Kudlow has a "very good chance" of becoming his next top economic policy adviser.
"I'm looking at Larry Kudlow very strongly. I've known him a long time," Trump told reporters before he left the White House for a trip to California.
"I'm also speaking to many others but I think Larry has a very good chance" to succeed Gary Cohn, the outgoing director of the White House National Economic Council, said the president.
Cohn, a veteran Wall Street banker and pro-trade adviser at the White House, announced his resignation last week as he failed to head off Trump's new tariff plan on imports of steel and aluminum.
Kudlow, a free trade advocate and CNBC commentator, has also publicly criticized the president's tariff plan, but Trump said they agreed on most matters.
"He now has come around to believing in tariffs as also a negotiating point. I'm renegotiating trade deals and without tariffs we wouldn't do nearly as well," Trump said.
Trump's remarks comes after multiple U.S. media reported on Monday that the 70-year-old Kudlow has emerged as a leading candidate to replace Cohn. Trump has spoken with Kudlow twice in recent days about the economic adviser role, according to the Washington Post.
Kudlow, who was an adviser to Trump during the 2016 campaign, is described by White House officials as someone who connects with the president personally and politically, the Post said.
Other candidates for the top economic policy adviser mentioned by the media include White House director of strategic initiatives Christopher Liddell, deputy director for economic policy Shahira Knight, budget director Mick Mulvaney, and trade adviser Peter Navarro.