Gary Cohn's breaking point

Why Trump's tariffs were the final straw for his top economic adviser

Gary Cohn during a news briefing at the White House
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

You can only push a man so far.

President Trump's top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, on Tuesday announced his intention to resign. Add one more name to the very long list of people who have already fled from the dysfunctional Trump administration. What was the last straw for Cohn? Steel and aluminum tariffs, apparently. While not exactly the most compelling reason for deciding you no longer want to work with Trump, Cohn's move is warranted: Unilaterally imposing significantly higher tariffs on imported steel and aluminum is truly another example of an impulsive Trump decision that is unlikely to pan out well.

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Scott Lemieux

Scott Lemieux is a professor of political science at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., with a focus on the Supreme Court and constitutional law. He is a frequent contributor to the American Prospect and blogs for Lawyers, Guns and Money.