WASHINGTON, D.C.  Mar. 7 (DPI) – Gary Cohn, the former Wall Street executive who shepherded tax reform through Washington as Trump’s economic adviser, resigned his White House post yesterday, unable to convince his boss that new tariffs were a mistake. And the US equity markets, skittish for weeks, took an immediate dive.

It’s a bit odd that a $30 trillion marketplace can be swayed by a single decision of a single Washington policymaker, but the sudden market drop today suggests that investors have looking for a any reason to sell for some time.   It’s especially notable, too, since the Trump policies of tax cuts and de-regulation have spurred a dramatic run-up since the November 2016 election, and that Cohn had much to do with it.

A Wall Street Journal editorial said that Cohn was “blindsided” by Trump’s sudden announcement on plans for new tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum:

Losing policy disputes comes with the job, but the particulars of this loss revealed more about Mr. Trump’s increasingly self-damaging style of managing his senior officials. Last week, the President announced his intention to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, though “announcement” overstates what happened. Mr. Trump essentially blurted out the news at a White House meeting, blind-siding Mr. Cohn and the rest of the Administration team, in what amounted to a coup d’état by Mr. Ross and the protectionists.

Readers across the political spectrum voiced their concerns about losing a clearly talented “grown-up” adviser, as one poster put it. Even on the Wall Street Journal’s comment board, where readers are often supportive of the Trump agenda so far, the most popular comments reflect anxiety that, without Cohn as his chief economic advisor, Trump will trigger a global trade war, or something worse:

The wise counselors leave, and the extremists flourish at the White House A sad trend.

Glad to see Cohn has the cojones to stand up to Trump and Navarro.