WSJ: Trump unlikely to pick Cohn to lead the Fed

President Trump is unlikely to nominate National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn to lead the Federal Reserve, according to The Wall Street Journal, after Cohn criticized Trump’s response to violence in Charlottesville, Va., last month.

The Journal reported that Trump, mulling a replacement for current Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman Janet Yellen, soured on Cohn, who had emerged as an early favorite to lead the central bank.

Trump reportedly was furious with Cohn’s comments that the White House “must do better” at condemning racist groups after Trump blamed “both sides” for violent clashes between white supremacists and counterprotestors in Charlottesville.

Cohn, who is Jewish, felt pressured to resign after Trump criticized “alt-left” protesters and said there were many “fine people” who marched with neo-Nazis and white nationalists.

The White House has shot down rumors Cohn would leave over Trump’s remarks, and Wall Street panicked when Cohn’s departure seemed inevitable.

Yellen’s term as Fed chairman ends in June, giving Trump less than a year to decide whether to renominate her or pick someone else. Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer announced on Wednesday he’d step down from the bank in October, giving Trump a bigger fingerprint on the Fed.