After Carol returned to rule as "Carol II" in mid-1930, Manoilescu was a very influential person in the king's "camarilla", being the Minister of Economy in the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ) cabinets of Iuliu Maniu and Gheorghe Mironescu (while he was a member of that party), as well as under Nicolae Iorga (1930–1931). He was elected to the Assembly of Deputies for the PNȚ in 1930, representing Caraș County. His political adversaries speculated that he had forged documents and played a hand in bringing Carol's mistress, Magda Lupescu, back into the country.