At a press conference President Trump said Mr Acosta had a "tremendous career".

"I wished him the best. We just spoke. I think he will be a tremendous Secretary of Labour."

The President said he was also a "great student", who graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for Judge Samuel Alito on the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for a year before going to work at the Washington DC law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Former President George W Bush appointed him to the National Labour Relations Board for about a year between 2002 and 2003, where he claimed he authored more than 125 opinions.

He later worked as assistant attorney general for the US Department of Justice's civil rights division, the first Hispanic person to work in such a position and again appointed by Mr Bush.

In 2004, he was criticised for his decision to notify a federal judge that the Justice Department did not object to Republicans’ plan to place “challengers” at some polling places during the election. Democrats argued the move was discriminatory as these people were placed in mostly black neighbourhoods.