President Donald Trump singled out several top officials who accompanied him for a speech on overhauling the tax code on Wednesday, but didn’t mention his chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, who has led the administration’s efforts.
Cohn was among a small cadre of aides who traveled with Trump to Missouri, including senior adviser Ivanka Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon. Trump gave each of those four aides a shout-out. He also named members of Congress in attendance.
“Anybody I forgot?” Trump said.
There has been friction between Trump and Cohn in recent days. Cohn told the Financial Times in an interview published five days ago that he nearly resigned earlier this month over Trump’s comments on the violence in Charlottesville and the president’s claim that “very fine people” protested along with neo-Nazis.
Cohn had also promised the president a White House tax bill. Instead, Congress is doing the heavy lifting on crafting a tax overhaul, and the administration won’t put one forward. That will have ramifications if the Hill’s legislation departs from the principles Trump outlined in his Missouri speech, including benefits for the middle class.
