[Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser, to resign amid differences on trade policy] 
 
 “The sense among investors was that Gary Cohn, among a few economic advisers, had interposed his body between the president and bad policy, said Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at Standish Mellon Asset Management. Cohn plans to stay in his job for several weeks and continue to push back on Trump’s planned tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which have threatened to touch off a global trade war, said a person who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Cohn’s plans.  The resignation of President Trump's National Economic Council head, Gary Cohn, on Tuesday sent Wall Street traders rushing to hit the “sell” button as fears of a trade war escalated. Meanwhile, rumors were circulating on the NEC on Tuesday that Trump could be tempted to tap trade adviser and economic nationalist Peter Navarro to replace Cohn. They’d expected Cohn’s announcement for weeks, though many expressed sadness afterward. Gary Cohn Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg 
 
 In a way, Cohn’s resignation as director of National Economic Council was exactly as Trump had predicted this week, telling associates that he expected Cohn to quit if Trump went ahead with the tariffs. “If they replaced [Cohn] with another economic nationalist, then it really gets dicey for the markets and investors.” 
 
 Kudlow has been largely supportive of Trump’s economic agenda, but he has expressed concerns about the president’s moves on trade. Cohn’s departure was first reported by the New York Times and immediately confirmed by White House officials. But people close to Cohn said he found the pivot toward protectionism this year infuriating, and he wouldn’t force himself to go out in public and defend it. “What is a little bit worrisome is the question of who replaces him is coming in the middle of this fight on tariffs that has divided the White House between the protectionist point of view and free trade point of view,” said Lanhee Chen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and policy director to the 2012 Romney-Ryan presidential campaign. Like Cohn, Kudlow has been highly critical of Trump’s decision on tariffs, something that could make it harder for him to get the job. And I think it’s the best way to go.” 
 
 Trump went on to argue that his White House is a talent magnet, even though Chief of Staff John F. Kelly has struggled to recruit experienced candidates for top-level jobs in the administration. “People are thinking, ‘Maybe I won’t be here as long as I thought I’d be,’” the NEC official said. “The chances of NAFTA failing also just rose.” 
 
 The gloomy narrative on Wall Street goes like this: Cohn was the last powerful voice in the Oval Office arguing against the tariffs on steel and aluminum and, more important, against Trump's threats to break up the North American Free Trade Agreement. And he’s got the Goldman Sachs pedigree, and that’s a very comforting thing for people,” said Stephen Massocca of Wedbush Securities. I certainly would be happy if we could, but we’ve got a lot of things to do, that being one of them, and I don’t know if we will have time to get to that,” Cornyn said. Just hours after the Oval Office meeting on Tuesday, the White House announced Cohn was gone, the latest in a string of staff departures from the White House in recent weeks.
– President Trump will choose Gary Cohn's replacement as chief economic adviser soon, he promised via Twitter shortly after Cohn announced his departure. "Many people wanting the job - will choose wisely!" Trump wrote. The Washington Post reports that one of the people Trump is considering is media personality Larry Kudlow, one of his 2016 campaign advisers, and Politico reports trade adviser and economic nationalist Peter Navarro and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney are also possibilities. But despite Trump sounding unconcerned, others in the White House are very concerned: "With Gary gone, I just think, from a policy perspective, it means disaster," one official tells Politico. Other aides expressed similar sentiments, explaining that Cohn was one of the few remaining aides who could talk Trump out of bad ideas. Others who spoke to Politico say that Cohn's departure will leave the National Economic Council without a leader, and that others on the NEC who are loyal to Cohn may also head for the door, particularly if Navarro is chosen as his replacement. And then there's the fact that, as Politico puts it, the White House has "struggled to attract top-tier talent," and some high-profile Republicans have privately expressed an unwillingness to take a position there. Meanwhile, Bloomberg has details on the hours before Cohn announced his resignation; sources say Trump demanded Cohn's cooperation on tariffs, Cohn didn't answer, and within hours he had announced his resignation. Politico has more on the backstory of their trade disagreement, and the Washington Post says Dow futures are down and Wall Street is preparing for an "ugly sell-off" over fears of a trade war.