Billionaire Carl Icahn will advise Donald Trump on rescinding what the activist investor called "excessive regulation" on US businesses, the president-elect's transition team said today.

Icahn will serve as a special adviser, not a federal employee, and he will not have specific duties, Trump's team said in a statement.

He will not take a salary, a transition aide added.

The pick could draw scrutiny because Icahn, whose major investments include insurer American International Group and oil refining business CVR Energy, could help shape rules meant to police Wall Street and protect the environment.

In the transition team statement released today, Icahn said it was time to "break free of excessive regulation" and let businesses create jobs.

Icahn, an early supporter of Trump's White House bid who has at times been outspoken about regulation, has already helped the transition team weigh candidates to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He has held meetings at his New York City office, not far from Trump Tower but away from reporters staked out there, people familiar with the talks said.

Candidates to replace her have included former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins and Debra Wong Yang, a former federal prosecutor, a source familiar with the matter said.

Over the years, Icahn's businesses have had occasional regulatory run-ins, according to disclosures with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

He is a large investor in nutrition supplement maker Herbalife, which said at one time it was investigated by the SEC.

Icahn, who was once known as a corporate raider, said in a recent Reuters interview the 2010 Dodd-Frank banking law "went too far."

He is also a critic of the US biofuels programme that requires oil companies to use renewable fuels such as ethanol.

"I do believe that, to some extent, we have gone overboard concerning the environment. But I leave that to the experts in that area," Icahn told CNN in a recent interview.

Trump and Icahn share some history in the casino business.

Icahn this year helped close the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resorts in Atlantic City, two years after buying it out of bankruptcy.

The casino was once a prized part of Trump's empire.

Conway named as counselor to the president

Former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway is to serve as counselor to the president, his transition team said.

Ms Conway, currently a senior adviser on Mr Trump's transition team, is widely credited with helping him bring a more disciplined approach to campaigning that helped him win the November presidential election.

In her new post, Ms Conway will play a key advisory role in the White House when Mr Trump takes office, helping to manage the New York businessman's messaging and legislative priorities, according to the statement.

Mr Trump said Ms Conway "played a crucial role in my victory.

"She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message."

Critic of China set to head new US trade council

Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on trade with China, has been named to head a newly-formed White House National Trade Council.

Mr Navarro is an academic and one-time investment adviser who has authored a number of popular books and made a film describing China's threat to the US economy as well as Beijing's desire to become the dominant economic and military power in Asia.

Mr Trump's team praised Mr Navarro in a statement as a "visionary" economist who would "develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores".

The president-elect made trade a centerpiece of his presidential campaign and railed against what he said were bad deals the United States had made with other countries.

He has threatened to hit Mexico and China with high tariffs once he takes office on 20 January.

Mr Navarro, 67, is a professor at University of California, Irvine, and advised Mr Trump during the campaign.

He has authored several books including "Death by China: How America Lost its Manufacturing Base," which was made into a documentary film.

As well as describing what he sees as America's losing economic war with China, Mr Navarro has highlighted concerns over environmental issues related to Chinese imports and the theft of US intellectual property.</s>President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named billionaire Carl Icahn, a vocal critic of what he calls government overregulation, to serve as a special advisor to overhaul “strangling regulations.”

He also tapped Peter Navarro, an outspoken China critic, to head the White House National Trade Council, a new office that will oversee trade and industrial policy, in the latest sign he is moving ahead with plans to overhaul US economic policy.

The 80-year-old Icahn, known as an aggressive, activist investor, will not serve as a government employee, will receive no salary and will not be bound by ethics rules requiring him to divest his investments.

He said President Obama had crippled America’s business owners with what he says is more than $1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork. “It’s time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities,” he said.

Icahn is already reported to have helped Trump pick candidates to fill his cabinet, including a climate-change denier to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world’s great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated,” Trump said in a statement.

“He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies,” the real estate billionaire added. “His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable.”

Trump’s appointment of Narvarro signals he is also moving to reshape relations with China after having heightened rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies with a series of snubs and criticisms.

A professor at the University of California, Irvine, Navarro’s books include “Death by China,” in which he criticizes Beijing for waging economic war by subsidizing its manufacturing industry and blocking American imports.

Trump’s promise to return US manufacturing jobs that have moved abroad by cutting federal regulation and attacking what describes as unfair competition from China provided a central pillar of his campaign platform.

He described Navarro as “a visionary economist” in a statement, saying the brash investor would “develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores.”

Like many of Trump’s picks for his future administration, both Navarro and Icahn are staunch loyalists of the divisive president-elect who have no experience in government.

Icahn is a New York City native like Trump. He began his career on Wall Street in 1961, and has held substantial or controlling stakes in numerous American companies over the years, including RJR Nabisco, Texaco, Philips Petroleum, Western Union, Gulf & Western, Viacom, Revlon, Time Warner, Motorola, Chesapeake Energy, Dell, Netflix, Apple and eBay.

He also owned the last glitzy Trump casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Trump Taj Mahal, until it finally failed and closed last month after going through two bankruptcy reorganizations since it opened in 1990.

Icahn took over the casino in 2014, but said it had lost $350 million over just a few short years.</s>U.S. President-elect Donald Trump met on Wednesday with the chief executives of two major defense companies he has singled out for criticism over project costs, part of his push to save taxpayer money on high-profile contracts.

Since winning the Nov. 8 election, Trump has complained about the companies for costs he said are too expensive, sending defense shares tumbling.

READ MORE: Why did Donald Trump take a shot at Boeing?

“Trying to get the costs down, costs. Primarily the (Lockheed Martin) F-35, we’re trying to get the cost down. It’s a program that’s very, very expensive,” Trump told reporters after meeting with the CEOs and a dozen Pentagon officials involved with defense acquisition programs who he said were “good negotiators.”

WATCH: Dennis Muilenburg met with the President-elect Donald Trump for about an hour to discuss Air Force One’s possible budget and timeline, among other undisclosed topics. No set budget plan was relayed to the media, but Muilenburg did say Boeing is ready to begin production right away. 



Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has vowed to address government procurement costs as part of his industrial policy, which also includes taking a hard line on Chinese trade practices and renegotiating multilateral trade deals.

“It’s a dance, you know, it’s a little bit of a dance,” he said. “But we’re going to get the costs down and we’re going to get it done beautifully.”

Also on Wednesday, Trump named economist Peter Navarro, an economist who has urged a hard line on China, to head up his White House team on industrial policy

He also appointed billionaire investor Carl Icahn as a special adviser on regulatory issues, and said Icahn would help him choose the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Boeing’s Muilenburg, whose company was caught off guard by Trump’s broadside earlier this month on the costs for replacing aging Air Force One planes, called his meeting “productive” and spoke admiringly of Trump’s “business head-set.”

Trump has said Boeing’s costs to build replacements for Air Force One planes – one of the most visible symbols of the U.S. presidency – are too high and urged the federal government in a tweet to “Cancel order!”

READ MORE: Lockheed Martin shares tank after Donald Trump tweets F-35 fighter program ‘out of control’

Trump has said the planes, which are in the early stages of development and are not expected to be ready until 2024, would cost more than $4 billion. The company is currently under contract for $170 million to help develop plans for the planes.

“I think we’re looking to cut a tremendous amount of money off the price,” Trump said on Wednesday.

Muilenburg said he gave Trump a “personal commitment” that costs would not run out of control.

“We’re going to get it done for less than that, and we’re committed to working together to make sure that happens,” the CEO said.

Trump has publicly pushed other corporations to change tack.

READ MORE: Donald Trump wants to cancel Boeing’s Air Force One contract, says it’s too expensive

He has taken credit for forcing United Technologies Corp and Ford Motor Co to alter plans to outsource jobs abroad. Ford, however, said it had no plans to close any U.S. plants.

Hewson left the Mar-a-Lago meeting without speaking to reporters. Trump has said Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet program was “out of control.”

WATCH: Trump calls Boeing’s new Air Force One deal ‘totally out of control’



The costs of the F-35s, used by the Marine Corps and the Air Force, and by six countries, have escalated to an estimated $400 billion, prompting it to be described as the most expensive weapon system in history.

Among the Defense Department officials who met with Trump was Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the F-35 program chief for the Pentagon.</s>Throughout the 2016 presidential election campaign, two of President-elect Donald Trump's closest advisers were his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, and billionaire financier Carl Icahn.

Wednesday night, he announced Icahn would lead his administration's efforts to reduce government regulation. Thursday morning, he announced Conway would join his troika of top advisers as counselor to the president.

"Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world's great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated," Trump said. "He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies. His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable."

"Kellyanne Conway has been a trusted adviser and strategist who played a crucial role in my victory," the president-elect added. "She is a tireless and tenacious advocate of my agenda and has amazing insights on how to effectively communicate our message. I am pleased that she will be part of my senior team in the West Wing."

Icahn is a New York City native and grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens. After receiving a degree in philosophy from Princeton University in 1957, he attended medical school at New York University and then joined the Army.

He began his career on Wall Street in 1961. In 1968, he formed Icahn & Co., and has gone on to become one of the most well-known and influential investors in America, holding substantial or controlling positions in numerous American companies over the years, including:

The presidential transition team issued the following statement:

Over the course of six decades, Mr. Icahn has distinguished himself as one of America's most successful businessmen and investors. Mr. Icahn was one of President-elect Trump's earliest supporters, and his intimate knowledge of what businesses need to grow and thrive makes him a trusted voice in developing President-elect Trump's America First economic agenda. Icahn will be a leader in helping American entrepreneurs shed job-killing regulations that stifle economic growth ...

His efforts have improved the competitiveness of American companies in a wide range of industries, including real estate, telecommunications, transportation, industrial services, oil refining and manufacturing.

Carl has been deeply involved in many charitable endeavors for years. In 2012, in recognition of Carl's gift of $200 million, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine was renamed the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the Institute of Genomics was renamed the Icahn Genomics Institute. The School of Medicine also established the Icahn Scholars Program to attract world-class physician-scientists. He also funded the Icahn Medical Institute Building at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Institute of Genomics, a genomics and multi-scale biology research program. Carl serves as a trustee on the boards of the School of Medicine and Mount Sinai Hospital.

In the realm of education, Carl established seven Icahn Charter Schools in the Bronx borough of New York City. The mission of the schools is based on the belief that all students deserve a rigorous academic program through which they will increase their capacity to learn. At Choate Rosemary Hall, a premiere boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut, where he previously served on the board of trustees, he endowed the Icahn Scholars Program, which has awarded a large number of scholarships to underprivileged students.

Carl has also made significant donations to the Randall's Island Sports Foundation, where he previously served as a trustee, for the construction of Icahn Stadium, a track and field stadium located on Randall's Island. In addition, he has served as a trustee on the board of Lincoln Center.

Icahn will be advising the president in his individual capacity and will not be serving as a federal employee or a special government employee and will not have any specific duties. As a result, his appointment won't require Senate confirmation.

"I am proud to serve President-elect Trump as a special advisor on regulatory reform," he said. "Under President Obama, America's business owners have been crippled by over $1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork.

"It's time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities. President-elect Trump is serious about helping American families, and regulatory reform will be a critical component of making America work again."

Conway shattered a glass ceiling during the campaign by becoming the first woman to lead a successful presidential campaign. In her new position—which was first created by President Richard Nixon and was, for a time, a Cabinet-level post—she will continue her role as a close adviser to the president and will work with senior leadership to "effectively message and execute the administration's legislative priorities and actions."

She graduated magna cum laude from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and holds a law degree, with honors, from George Washington University Law School. She is the founder and owner of The Polling Company Inc./WomanTrend, a polling and research firm that for 21 years has served leading political figures, nonprofits and companies.

At the onset of the 2016 campaign, she was an ally of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) but was instrumental in turning around the Trump campaign in its late stages. She has since been a key figure in both the president-elect's campaign and his transition team.

"I want to thank the president-elect for this amazing opportunity," she said. "A Trump presidency will bring real change to Washington and to Americans across this great nation. I am humbled and honored to play a role in helping transform the movement he has led into a real agenda of action and results."

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!

Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.</s>US President-elect Donald Trump has created a new trade body within the White House that would report directly to him and roped in an economist and a billionaire – both known for their anti-China stance – for his economic team.

The formation of the White House National Trade Council further demonstrates Trump’s determination to make American manufacturing “great” again and to provide every American the opportunity to work in a decent job at a decent wage, the presidential transition team said.

The council would be headed by economist and University of California-Irvin Professor Peter Navarro, who would serve as Assistant to the President and Director of Trade and Industrial Policy, the team said in a statement.

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“Navarro is a visionary economist and will develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores,” it said, adding that he has been instrumental in challenging the prevailing Washington orthodoxy on so-called free trade.

According to the transition team, the mission of the National Trade Council will be to advise the President on innovative strategies in trade negotiations, coordinate with other agencies to assess US manufacturing capabilities and the defence industrial base, and help match unemployed American workers with new opportunities in the skilled manufacturing sector.

Later in the day, Trump announced to appoint billionaire investor Carl Icahn to serve as special advisor on issues related to regulatory reform.

Icahn was one of Trump’s earliest supporters, and his intimate knowledge of what businesses need to grow and thrive makes him a trusted voice in developing President-elect’s ‘America First’ economic agenda, the media statement said.

“Icahn will be a leader in helping American entrepreneurs shed job-killing regulations that stifle economic growth,” it said.

In a report, The Wall Street said the announcements “offer clues about how Trump will attempt to flesh out his distinct economic agenda that fuses traditional Republican principles of lower taxes and regulation” with a more populist approach on trade, immigration and manufacturing.

The Democratic National Committee deputy communications director Eric Walker alleged that this is a quid-pro-quo 25 years in the making.

“In the early 1990s, Icahn came to Trump’s rescue as his casino business was failing. Today, Trump made Icahn the regulatory czar of his administration,” he said.

“The corrupt nature of this arrangement cannot be understated. Voters who wanted Trump to drain the swamp just got another face full of mud,” he added.</s>It’s one of the greatest examples of "careful what you wish for" in political history: President Obama is going to be replaced by the kind of Republican he’s always said he wanted.

For the entirety of his presidency, Obama has insisted that he is a pragmatist, not an ideologue. Indeed, he seems to think that ideology is a dirty word. "What is required," Obama declared the day before his first inauguration, "is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives — from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry — an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels."

As a confessed ideologue, I’ve always taken offense at the suggestion that ideology — i.e., a fixed set of principles — deserves to be listed alongside prejudice, bigotry and small thinking. Moreover, as a conservative, I’ve always found laughable the idea that Obama is not an ideologue.

But when Donald Trump says he’s a pragmatist, it’s no laughing matter. Not since Richard Nixon have we had a president (or president-elect) less committed, or beholden, to a fixed ideological program.

Going into the GOP primaries, the conventional wisdom held that the winner of the contest would be the candidate who displayed the most ideological purity. Instead the brass ring went to the contender with the least.

"No, it’s not going to be the Trump doctrine," Trump said in April. "Because in life, you have to be flexible. You have to have flexibility. You have to change. You know, you may say one thing and then the following year you want to change it, because circumstances are different."

A few days later, he told his supporters in California, "Folks, I’m a conservative, but at this point, who cares? We got to straighten out the country."

His surrogates echoed the sentiment. Investor Carl Icahn assured voters that "Donald is a pragmatist. He’s going to do what’s needed for this economy."

Hedge fund mogul Anthony Scaramucci wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "What elitists misinterpret as uneven principles, entrepreneurs understand as adaptability. … Mr. Trump would be the greatest pragmatist and deal maker Washington has ever seen."

The closest Trump comes to a rigid set of political principles is on the issue of trade. He has been making the same protectionist arguments about trade for more than 30 years. And despite the fact that the GOP has, at least rhetorically, been a party of free trade since Ronald Reagan, Trump seems to have won that argument in a rout. No doubt there are Republicans who disagree with Trump on trade, but for the most part they’re keeping their opposition to themselves.

Obama came into office wanting to be a transformative president. He almost certainly failed — many of his prize accomplishments likely won’t survive the next GOP Congress. And even as he argued against partisanship, and advanced the idea that a president can, nay must, decide every issue on a case-by-case basis, he always pushed a liberal agenda.

Trump, though, really might try the case-by-case approach, which we’ll soon find is more disorienting than refreshing. His "flexibility" on numerous issues — infrastructure, entitlements, industrial policy, day care and who knows what else in the years to come — means we won’t know what to expect.

For good or ill, then, Trump could be the "transformative" president Obama always wanted to be — the president who gets us past partisan ideology by doing away with principle.

One can already hear the ideological supports of both parties groaning under the weight of Trump’s pragmatism. If one party collapses as a result, both will likely topple over. What replaces them is anyone’s guess, but no one will deny that a transformation took place.</s>President-elect Donald Trump named billionaire Carl Icahn, a vocal critic of what he calls government overregulation, to serve as a special advisor to overhaul "strangling regulations."

He also tapped Peter Navarro, an outspoken China critic, to head the White House National Trade Council, a new office that will oversee trade and industrial policy, in the latest sign he is moving ahead with plans to overhaul US economic policy.

The 80-year-old Icahn, known as an aggressive, activist investor, will not serve as a government employee, will receive no salary and will not be bound by ethics rules requiring him to divest his investments.

He said President Barack Obama had crippled America's business owners with what he says is more than $1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork. "It's time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities," he said.

Icahn is already reported to have helped Trump pick candidates to fill his cabinet, including a climate-change denier to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world's great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated," Trump said in a statement.

"He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies," the real estate billionaire added. "His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable."

Trump's appointment of Narvarro signals he is also moving to reshape relations with China after having heightened rising tensions between the world's two largest economies with a series of snubs and criticisms.

A professor at the University of California, Irvine, Navarro's books include "Death by China," in which he criticizes Beijing for waging economic war by subsidizing its manufacturing industry and blocking American imports.

Trump's promise to return US manufacturing jobs that have moved abroad by cutting federal regulation and attacking what describes as unfair competition from China provided a central pillar of his campaign platform.

He described Navarro as "a visionary economist" in a statement, saying the brash investor would "develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores."

Like many of Trump's picks for his future administration, both Navarro and Icahn are staunch loyalists of the divisive president-elect who have no experience in government.

Icahn is a New York City native like Trump. He began his career on Wall Street in 1961, and has held substantial or controlling stakes in numerous American companies over the years, including RJR Nabisco, Texaco, Philips Petroleum, Western Union, Gulf & Western, Viacom, Revlon, Time Warner, Motorola, Chesapeake Energy, Dell, Netflix, Apple and eBay.

He also owned the last glitzy Trump casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Trump Taj Mahal, until it finally failed and closed last month after going through two bankruptcy reorganizations since it opened in 1990.

Icahn took over the casino in 2014, but said it had lost $350 million over just a few short years.</s>President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named billionaire Carl Icahn, a vocal critic of what he calls government overregulation, to serve as a special advisor to overhaul “strangling regulations.”

He also tapped Peter Navarro, an outspoken China critic, to head the White House National Trade Council, a new office that will oversee trade and industrial policy, in the latest sign he is moving ahead with plans to overhaul US economic policy.

The 80-year-old Icahn, known as an aggressive, activist investor, will not serve as a government employee, will receive no salary and will not be bound by ethics rules requiring him to divest his investments.

He said President Obama had crippled America’s business owners with what he says is more than $1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork. “It’s time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities,” he said.

Icahn is already reported to have helped Trump pick candidates to fill his cabinet, including a climate-change denier to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world’s great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated,” Trump said in a statement.

“He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies,” the real estate billionaire added. “His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable.”

Trump’s appointment of Narvarro signals he is also moving to reshape relations with China after having heightened rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies with a series of snubs and criticisms.

A professor at the University of California, Irvine, Navarro’s books include “Death by China,” in which he criticizes Beijing for waging economic war by subsidizing its manufacturing industry and blocking American imports.

– No government experience –

 Trump’s promise to return US manufacturing jobs that have moved abroad by cutting federal regulation and attacking what describes as unfair competition from China provided a central pillar of his campaign platform.

He described Navarro as “a visionary economist” in a statement, saying the brash investor would “develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores.”

Like many of Trump’s picks for his future administration, both Navarro and Icahn are staunch loyalists of the divisive president-elect who have no experience in government.

Icahn is a New York City native like Trump. He began his career on Wall Street in 1961, and has held substantial or controlling stakes in numerous American companies over the years, including RJR Nabisco, Texaco, Philips Petroleum, Western Union, Gulf & Western, Viacom, Revlon, Time Warner, Motorola, Chesapeake Energy, Dell, Netflix, Apple and eBay.

He also owned the last glitzy Trump casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Trump Taj Mahal, until it finally failed and closed last month after going through two bankruptcy reorganizations since it opened in 1990.

Icahn took over the casino in 2014, but said it had lost $350 million over just a few short years.

This post was syndicated from The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook</s>WASHINGTON (AFP) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Dec 21) he is naming billionaire Carl Icahn, a vocal critic of government overregulation, to serve as a special adviser to overhaul "strangling regulations."

The 80-year-old Icahn, who is known as aggressive, activist investor in the companies he is involved with, will not be a government employee, will not receive a salary and will not be bound by ethics rules requiring him to divest his investments.

Icahn already reportedly helped Trump pick candidates to fill his Cabinet, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world's great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated," Trump said in a statement.

"He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies. His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable."

Icahn said that, "Under President Obama, America's business owners have been crippled by over US$1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork.

"It's time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities."

Like Trump, Icahn is a New York City native. He began his career on Wall Street in 1961, and has held substantial or controlling positions in numerous American companies over the years, including RJR Nabisco, Texaco, Philips Petroleum, Western Union, Gulf & Western, Viacom, Revlon, Time Warner, Motorola, Chesapeake Energy, Dell, Netflix, Apple, and eBay.

Icahn also owned the last glitzy Trump casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Trump Taj Mahal, until it finally failed a closed last month, after going through two bankruptcy reorganisations since it opened in 1990.

Icahn took over the casino in 2014, but said it had lost US$350 million (S$500 million) over just a few short years.</s>WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named billionaire Carl Icahn, a vocal critic of what he calls government overregulation, to serve as a special advisor to overhaul “strangling regulations.”

He also tapped Peter Navarro, an outspoken China critic, to head the White House National Trade Council, a new office that will oversee trade and industrial policy, in the latest sign he is moving ahead with plans to overhaul US economic policy.

The 80-year-old Icahn, known as an aggressive, activist investor, will not serve as a government employee, will receive no salary and will not be bound by ethics rules requiring him to divest his investments.

He said President Obama had crippled America’s business owners with what he says is more than $1 trillion in new regulations and over 750 billion hours dealing with paperwork. “It’s time to break free of excessive regulation and let our entrepreneurs do what they do best: create jobs and support communities,” he said.

Icahn is already reported to have helped Trump pick candidates to fill his cabinet, including a climate-change denier to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Carl was with me from the beginning and with his being one of the world’s great businessmen, that was something I truly appreciated,” Trump said in a statement.

“He is not only a brilliant negotiator, but also someone who is innately able to predict the future especially having to do with finances and economies,” the real estate billionaire added. “His help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable.”

Trump’s appointment of Narvarro signals he is also moving to reshape relations with China after having heightened rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies with a series of snubs and criticisms.

A professor at the University of California, Irvine, Navarro’s books include “Death by China,” in which he criticizes Beijing for waging economic war by subsidizing its manufacturing industry and blocking American imports.

Trump’s promise to return US manufacturing jobs that have moved abroad by cutting federal regulation and attacking what describes as unfair competition from China provided a central pillar of his campaign platform.

He described Navarro as “a visionary economist” in a statement, saying the brash investor would “develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores.”

Like many of Trump’s picks for his future administration, both Navarro and Icahn are staunch loyalists of the divisive president-elect who have no experience in government.

Icahn is a New York City native like Trump. He began his career on Wall Street in 1961, and has held substantial or controlling stakes in numerous American companies over the years, including RJR Nabisco, Texaco, Philips Petroleum, Western Union, Gulf & Western, Viacom, Revlon, Time Warner, Motorola, Chesapeake Energy, Dell, Netflix, Apple and eBay.

He also owned the last glitzy Trump casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Trump Taj Mahal, until it finally failed and closed last month after going through two bankruptcy reorganizations since it opened in 1990.

Icahn took over the casino in 2014, but said it had lost $350 million over just a few short years. AFP
President-elect Donald Trump names Carl Icahn as the Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform.