Trump selects Goldman Sachs president as top economic adviser

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday officially announced that he will appoint Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn to be the director of his National Economic Council (NEC).

“As my top economic advisor, Gary Cohn is going to put his talents as a highly successful businessman to work for the American people,” Trump said in a news release. “He will help craft economic policies that will grow wages for our workers, stop the exodus of jobs overseas and create many great new opportunities for Americans who have been struggling.”

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The National Economic Council advises the president on economic policy. Trump’s transition office said that Cohn will help to design Trump’s economic agenda and will work closely with the Treasury and Commerce departments.

Cohn called being picked for the administration job a “great honor.”

“I share President-elect Trump’s vision of making sure every American worker has a secure place in a thriving economy, and we will be completely committed to building a nation of strength, growth and prosperity,” he said.

Cohn is not the first person with ties to Goldman Sachs to be selected to be part of Trump’s administration. Trump’s Treasury Secretary pick, Steven Mnuchin, is a former partner at the investment bank, and the president-elect’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, also is a former Goldman employee.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) blasted the pick on Friday.

“It’s called a rigged economy and this is how it works,” he tweeted.