Trump says top White House economist Kevin Hassett leaving

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump says the White House’s top economist is leaving soon.

In a tweet Sunday night, Trump says the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, will be departing “shortly” and praises him as having “done such a great job for me and the Administration.”

Trump says he will name what he calls a “very talented replacement” as soon as he returns to the U.S. from his trip to Europe.

The president adds: “I want to thank Kevin for all he has done – he is a true friend!”

Hassett began serving in the Senate-confirmed post in September 2017. Before that, Hassett was an economist at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. He had also served as an adviser to the presidential campaigns of three GOP candidates — George W. Bush, Mitt Romney and the late John McCain.