Senior White House official Everett Eissenstat‘s departure further diminishes the White House’s policy chops. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Top economic official leaving White House

Everett Eissenstat, a senior White House official who represented President Donald Trump at major international meetings, including this month’s dramatic G-7 summit in Canada, is leaving the administration next month.

Eissenstat, a former top aide to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), joined the administration last year for a joint appointment on the National Economic Council and the National Security Council, where he focused on international economic affairs.


It’s the latest high-level staff departure from the White House in recent months. His departure further diminishes the White House’s policy chops. The announcement comes just weeks after Shahira Knight, the NEC’s top domestic policy adviser, announced plans to leave the White House. Knight, who is a candidate to replace the White House legislative affairs director, Marc Short, decided to stay on temporarily in the aftermath of NEC Director Larry Kudlow’s recent heart attack.

When Eissenstat departs early next month, he’ll take with him a wealth of trade policy expertise at a time when the issue is at the center of a fierce debate in the White House. Before joining the White House, he was chief Republican trade counsel for the Senate Finance Committee under Hatch. Eissenstat also served as assistant U.S. trade representative for the Western Hemisphere.

Eissenstat served as the president’s “sherpa” at major international meetings, including the G-20 and APEC summits. He was also Trump’s top lieutenant at the G-7 meeting in Canada, in which Trump infuriated American allies by withdrawing the United States’ support for a joint statement after departing the meeting early en route to his summit with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un.

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International officials grew to like and trust Eissenstat, a fact that some of the hard-line nationalists in the White House were suspicious of.

“Everett was a consummate professional and a valued member of the White House staff,” White House chief of staff John Kelly said in a statement. “We will miss his deep expertise, commitment to duty, and skillful management of the National Economic and National Security Council’s international team.”

Eissenstat has been quietly looking for jobs in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the issue. He has spoken to a number of companies and firms, including GM, but has not made a final decision about his next steps.