--- title: Why Gary Cohn Stayed description: President Trump's equivocating response to the Charlottesville protests nearly led his Director of the National Economic Council to resign. canonical: https://time.com/4915541/why-gary-cohn-stayed/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-25T16:39:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:09:42.123Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why Gary Cohn Stayed og:description: President Trump's equivocating response to the Charlottesville protests nearly led his Director of the National Economic Council to resign. og:url: https://time.com/4915541/why-gary-cohn-stayed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Gary Cohn Stayed twitter:description: President Trump's equivocating response to the Charlottesville protests nearly led his Director of the National Economic Council to resign. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Gary Cohn Stayed > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7e557fa0-46df-46e6-ae55-3831126427a9&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 25, 2017 4:39 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 25, 2017 4:39 PM UTC President Trump’s response to the Charlottesville unrest earlier this month nearly led to the departure of chief financial policy aide, Gary Cohn, the Director of the National Economic Council who is being eyed as the next chair of the Federal Reserve. In an interview with the Financial Times, Cohn discussed his rationale for staying after Trump’s “both sides” comments. Cohn said he had spoken with Trump about the need to speak out more forcefully against neo-Nazis and the KKK. Cohn also moved the Administration’s goalposts once again on tax reform—which at one time it hoped to have completed already—saying the new timeframe is by the end of the year. It’s the latest acknowledgement by the administration that the September legislative calendar is already packed with critical items like raising the debt limit and averting a government shutdown. The White House is also abandoning its plans to produce a tax plan of its own, deferring once again to the committees on Capitol Hill. The RNC votes condemn neo-Nazis. Zinke backs off on monuments. And Trump lashes out at Corker. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [Yellen Rejects Trump Approach to Wall Street Regulation ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/25/yellen-rejects-trump-approach-says-post-crisis-banking-rules-make-economy-safer/?hpid=hp%5Fno-name%5Fhp-breaking-news:page/breaking-news-bar&tid=a%5Fbreakingnews&utm%5Fterm=.e99f59f3cf04)Says post-crisis banking rules make economy safer \[Washington Post\] [Trump Fences Himself In With Border Wall Spending Threat ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/us/politics/trump-wall-government-shutdown-congress.html?%5Fr=0)Hands Democrats leverage \[New York Times\] [In D.C., Lobbying ‘Swamp’ Isn’t Drained So Much as Clogged ](https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/08/24/washington-lobbying-swamp-isn-drained-much-clogged/XJmSbaq1WRucAniNoqSAHI/story.html?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam&stream=top-stories)Lobbyist work slows, but not because of Trump \[Boston Globe\] [Rick Perry Wanted to Prove the Obama Administration Killed Coal ](http://time.com/4913856/rick-perry-trump-coal-energy-grid-study-obama/)But the facts got in the way \[TIME\] [Trump to Rally Public on Taxes as Republicans Hash Out Details ](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-24/gop-leaders-are-said-not-to-expect-white-house-tax-plan-details)Trump said to launch tax campaign in Missouri next week \[Bloomberg\] **Sound Off** “I have come under enormous pressure both to resign and to remain in my current position. As a patriotic American, I am reluctant to leave my post as director of the National Economic Council because I feel a duty to fulfill my commitment to work on behalf of the American people. But I also feel compelled to voice my distress over the events of the last two weeks…As a Jewish American, I will not allow neo-Nazis ranting “Jews will not replace us” to cause this Jew to leave his job.” — White House Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn to the Financial Times “Strange statement by Bob Corker considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in ’18\. Tennessee not happy!” — Trump punching back at the GOP senator’s questions about his fitness for office **Bits and Bites** [At CIA, a watchful eye on Mike Pompeo, the president’s ardent ally](https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/world/national-security/at-cia-a-watchful-eye-on-mike-pompeo-the-presidents-ardent-ally/2017/08/24/18c1d716-7ed0-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed%5Fstory.html) \[Washington Post\] [RNC to vote on condemning, but some roll eyes](https://www.apnews.com/246ef26e4cd740f191c4a6d7dfb4210b/RNC-to-vote-on-condemning,-but-some-roll-eyes) \[Associated Press\] [Watchdog: Steven Mnuchin and Wife May Have Used Government Plane to Watch the Eclipse](http://time.com/4915080/watchdog-steven-mnuchin-louise-linton-trip-eclipse/) \[TIME\] [Trump to push for tax reform passage by year’s end, says Cohn](https://www.ft.com/content/0169006e-8946-11e7-bf50-e1c239b45787) \[Financial Times\] [Could a President Get Rid of a National Monument? Here’s Why the Answer’s Complicated](http://time.com/4912638/donald-trump-national-monument-history/) \[TIME\] [Interior Secretary Won’t Recommend Eliminating Any National Monuments After Trump Review](http://time.com/4914368/national-monument-review-zinke-no-eliminations/) \[TIME\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4915541/why-gary-cohn-stayed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4915541/why-gary-cohn-stayed/"},"headline":"Why Gary Cohn Stayed","datePublished":"2017-08-25T16:39:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:09:42.123Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: August 25","url":"https://time.com/4915541/why-gary-cohn-stayed/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4915541/why-gary-cohn-stayed/","name":"Why Gary Cohn Stayed"}}]}] ```