Scaramucci Discusses Trump, Tariffs, And Cohn's Departure

U.S. stocks were sharply lower Wednesday with many attributing the sell-off to the resignation of President Donald Trump's chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn.

What Happened

Cohn provided the White House with an "enormous amount of value" in implementing Trump's tax reform, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci told CNBC's Scott Wapner Wednesday. Cohn brought to the table his tremendous expertise he acquired as a senior leader at Goldman Sachs GS, but at the end of the day there's no shortage of equally capable people to replace Cohn to serve at the pleasure of the president.

"The policies that the president has put together on the economy has resounded in not only economic growth but real wage growth," Scaramucci said.

Why It's Important

Cohn's opposition to the proposed steel and aluminum tariff may have been at odds with Trump's vision of economic policies consisting of "symmetry and fairness across the board and not necessarily any more than that," Scaramucci said. For nearly 75 years, the U.S. has had "uneven trade deals" with many western and industrialized Asian nations. All the president is saying is these trade deals are unfair to American workers.

"[Trump] is a very smart business person. He's proven to be an incredible negotiator. I think he is just trying to send a message to people," Scaramucci said. "Markets are probably over reacting to the shock of the idea of a potential tariff."

What's Next

Fairness in economic trading policies remains a core principal of Trump and many pundits are being "unfair" in their reaction, Scaramucci said. Trump likely doesn't want a trade war and could be using threats of a tariff as a negotiating tactic to improve the lives of American workers.

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