On 3 July 2019, the "Financial Times" reported that Osborne was seeking backing to replace Christine Lagarde as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The global organisation, which works to foster monetary cooperation between nations, had its highest role held only by European nationals since its founding. Lagarde's replacement was to be selected by the IMF's executive board, where the United States, Japan and China held the largest shares of the total vote. Osborne said he was "uniquely placed" to win both US and Chinese support, and argued that the current climate required "a skilled political communicator and operator to deal with the likes of Trump and Xi - not a technocrat".