By Andrew Restuccia, Vivian Salama and Brian Schwartz
Donald Trump is considering tapping Fox Business Network host Larry Kudlow for a senior economic policy role in his administration, according to people familiar with the matter, amid the president-elect's mounting frustration with jockeying for top jobs.
Kudlow met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the president-elect's private Florida club, late this week, the people said. Trump's advisers see Kudlow as a contender to lead the National Economic Council and possibly the Treasury Department.
Kudlow and a spokeswoman for Trump's transition team didn't respond to requests for comment.
Kudlow, 77, served as NEC director for nearly three years, remaining in the role until the end of Trump's time in office. He has kept in regular touch with Trump.
Kudlow has made regular appearances on Fox Business since leaving the White House. On his weekday show, Kudlow regularly touts Trump's economic policy proposals. His allies have made appeals directly to Trump to bring him back into the administration, the people said.
Kudlow's stock has risen in Trump's orbit amid what one adviser to the president called a "cold war" between two other leading candidates for senior economic roles in the second term: billionaire Cantor Fitzgerald Chief Executive Howard Lutnick and investor Scott Bessent.
Both men have made aggressive plays to lead the Treasury Department, with their allies making the case for them -- and against the other -- in public and private. The campaigning has irritated the president-elect, some of his advisers said, and lengthened the internal deliberations over the job as Trump considers other candidates.
Spokespeople for Lutnick, the co-chair of the transition, and Bessent didn't respond to requests for comment.
In addition to Kudlow, the president-elect and his team have discussed Robert Lighthizer, who served as U.S. trade representative during Trump's first term, and Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, for high-profile economic roles, including Treasury secretary.
Rowan met with Trump before the election in New York, people familiar with the matter said. They discussed the state of the economy during the meeting. Trump and Rowan haven't had a meeting since Trump won the election, one of the people said.
The final outcome was unclear. Trump hadn't made a decision as of late Thursday night, the people said. He is expected to continue discussions with candidates on Friday.
Several advisers to the president compared the closed-door discussions to a game of musical chairs. Once Trump makes a decision on Treasury, the remaining candidates are likely to be considered for other jobs, including National Economic Council director.
Meanwhile, Trump is poised to soon announce his choice for commerce secretary. Linda McMahon, the former head of the Small Business Administration, is said by people close to Trump to be the leading candidate for the job, though they added that the decision hadn't yet been set in stone.
Write to Andrew Restuccia at andrew.restuccia@wsj.com, Vivian Salama at vivian.salama@wsj.com and Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 15, 2024 11:27 ET (16:27 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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