Cohn, an executive at Wall Street firm Trump has criticized, was officially picked for National Economic Council director, which does not need Senate approval

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

President-elect Donald Trump has formally tapped Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn for a top White House economic post.

Cohn will serve as director of the National Economic Council, heading a department with a key role in policymaking. The post does not require Senate confirmation.

In a statement, Trump says Cohn will “put his talents as a highly successful businessman to work for the American people”.

Trump was critical of Goldman Sachs during the presidential campaign and lambasted Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for giving paid speeches to the Wall Street giant. But he’s now chosen three people with ties to the bank for his administration, including Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary nominee, and Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist and senior counselor.

Cohn, 56, is president and chief operating officer at the Wall Street firm and had until recently been widely considered the heir apparent to chief executive Lloyd Blankfein. But according to the Wall Street Journal, Cohn, who met with Trump on Tuesday, has been considering a move in recent months.

Cohn is a former Goldman commodities trader from Ohio who joined the firm in 1990. He served in a variety of leadership roles in bond trading, becoming co-head of Goldman’s broader securities and, eventually, co-president in 2006. He makes frequent appearances at industry conferences and on television, speaking on the state of the financial markets.

Cohn is a registered Democrat who has donated money to both Barack Obama and Clinton.

If he takes the post, he will be following in the footsteps of Robert Rubin and Stephen Friedman, two other onetime Goldman Sachs executives who served in that role.