section_path: First Trump administration (2017–2021)/White House trade advisor
section_name: White House trade advisor
paragraph_text: White House trade advisor
  
  According to Navarro, he was initially promised to be appointed as the National Economic Council, but the position was instead given to Gary Cohn. On December 21, 2016, Navarro was selected by President-elect Trump to a newly created position as director of the White House National Trade Council. At the first three weeks of his administration, Navarro was not assigned an office on the White House campus and instead had to work out of his house.: 66 Navarro was first allowed to see Trump in the Oval Office in early March; in the meeting, he had a big argument with Cohn.: 67 Early in the administration, Navarro was allied with speechwriter Stephen Miller and White House strategist Steve Bannon; the latter had read Navarro's books about China and used his influence on Trump to advance Navarro's views.
  
  In the administration, Navarro was a hawkish advisor on trade, as he encouraged Trump to implement trade protectionist policies. He was also a key official in the China–United States trade war and influential in tougher policies towards China. The New York Times wrote in 2019 that Navarro "has managed to exert enormous influence over United States trade policy" in the Trump administration. In explaining his role in the Trump administration, Navarro said that he is there to "provide the underlying analytics that confirm intuition. And his intuition is always right in these matters."
  
  According to Navarro, he was initially promised to be appointed as the National Economic Council, but the position was instead given to Gary Cohn. On December 21, 2016, Navarro was selected by President-elect Trump to a newly created position as director of the White House National Trade Council. At the first three weeks of his administration, Navarro was not assigned an office on the White House campus and instead had to work out of his house.: 66 Navarro was first allowed to see Trump in the Oval Office in early March; in the meeting, he had a big argument with Cohn.: 67 Early in the administration, Navarro was allied with speechwriter Stephen Miller and White House strategist Steve Bannon; the latter had read Navarro's books about China and used his influence on Trump to advance Navarro's views.
  
  In the administration, Navarro was a hawkish advisor on trade, as he encouraged Trump to implement trade protectionist policies. He was also a key official in the China–United States trade war and influential in tougher policies towards China. The New York Times wrote in 2019 that Navarro "has managed to exert enormous influence over United States trade policy" in the Trump administration. In explaining his role in the Trump administration, Navarro said that he is there to "provide the underlying analytics that confirm intuition. And his intuition is always right in these matters."