Gary Cohn and Donald Trump Getty Images/Pool 
 
 President Donald Trump on Thursday praised his top economic adviser Gary Cohn, who announced his resignation on Tuesday, and said he could return to the White House in the future. 
 
 "This is Gary Cohn's last meeting of the Cabinet, with the Cabinet, and he's been terrific," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting. "He may be a globalist, but I still like him. He's seriously a globalist, there's no question. But you know what? In his own way he's a nationalist because he loves this country." 
 
 Reports have suggested Cohn may be considered for a major role in the future and is open to coming back. Prior to Cohn's departure, Trump spoke to Cohn about becoming chief of staff. 
 
 "He's going to go out, make another couple hundred million, and then he's going to maybe come back," Trump said. "You're going to come back right?" 
 
 "Absolutely," Cohn replied. 
 
 "We'll be here another seven years hopefully, and that's a long time, but I have a feeling you'll be back," Trump continued. "I don't know if we can put him in the same position though, he's not quite as strong on those tariffs as we want him." 
 
 Cohn was on of the major voices in the administration speaking against the newly announced tariffs on steel and aluminum. The former Goldman Sachs executive has argued that the tariffs will end up hurting the US economy. ||||| President Donald Trump in a Thursday Cabinet meeting offered little clarity on his upcoming tariffs announcement and joked that his outgoing economic adviser Gary Cohn was a "globalist" who could one day return to the administration. 
 
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 The president said he’s going to be “very fair” and “very flexible” on tariffs and reiterated he wants a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum. 
 
 But he then laid out a considerable amount of potential wiggle room for some countries. 
 
 “I’ll have a right to go up or down depending on the country and I’ll have a right to drop out countries or add countries,” Trump said. “I just want fairness, because we have not been treated fairly by other countries.” 
 
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 The administration had already said Wednesday evening that Canada and Mexico would be initially exempted in whatever tariffs the president announces, although Trump said that could change depending on the results of negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. 
 
 In a tweet earlier this morning, Trump said the U.S. must show quote "great flexibility and cooperation toward those that are real friends and treat us fairly on both trade and the military." 
 
 During the president's remarks on 'flexibility,' Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross clinked their water glasses. The two had been on opposite sides of this tariff fight – Mattis pushing for exemptions for national security while Ross has backed the tariffs, dismissing talk of retaliation by allies and the potential for lost jobs. 
 
 Trump also used the meeting as a farewell to Cohn, who announced his plans to resign this past Tuesday after failing to convince the president not to implement tariffs. 
 
 "He may be a globalist, but I still like him," the president said of Cohn, who was seated just behind him. 
 
 The president also teased a potential revolving door return in Cohn's future. 
 
 "He's going to go out and make another of couple hundred million, and then he's going to maybe come back," Trump said, though he added he didn't expect Cohn to return to his same position considering the tariffs fight. ||||| GOP angst is reaching new heights with Gary Cohn’s departure from the White House, as congressional Republicans lose a key check on Donald Trump’s proclivity for protectionism. 
 
 The outgoing economic adviser to Trump is one of Hill Republicans’ most accessible conduits to the White House. He’s worked closely with them on tax reform, banking deregulation and, most critically, pushing back against new tariffs — an argument that Cohn clearly lost. 
 
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 Republican leaders are still pushing to limit the scope of new tariffs on aluminum and steel. But at a crucial moment in their fight against a president from their own party, they’re about to be down a key ally. And with no prominent free traders left in the White House, Republicans worry Trump might take even more drastic measures like withdrawing from NAFTA and end up hobbling the economy in an election year. 
 
 “He’s got a sound and needed voice at the White House to counter some of the other voices and I hate to see him leave,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). “Importantly, he was around to be whispering in the president’s ear. And he won’t be now.” 
 
 “He’s a voice of reason on economic issues and a big picture guy who paid a lot of attention to what some of these policy decisions and implications are for the larger economy,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). “I don’t know who replaces that.” 
 
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 That very question — who will replace Cohn? — perplexed a group of House conservatives during a closed-door Republican Study Committee meeting Wednesday. RSC Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C.) had invited House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) to discuss the proposed tariffs with the group, and lawmakers fretted that they have no one to turn to in the West Wing to talk Trump down. 
 
 "We need an advocate in 'the circle,' because it seems like the people who are influencing Trump right now are more pro-tariff, like Peter Navarro," Walker said, recounting the meeting. Navarro is one of Trump's top trade officials and helped convince the president to embrace his hawkish views on trade. 
 
 On Wednesday afternoon, the RSC released a formal statement finding that "tariffs on imported goods are a tax." Soon after, 107 House Republicans led by the Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to Trump urging him to carefully tailor any tariffs to avoid shocks to the economy. 
 
 In interviews with a half-dozen Republicans in the aftermath of Cohn’s resignation announcement, the anxiety in the Republican Party was plain: If the tariffs get out of hand, a trade war could commence and cripple the U.S. economy as well as the GOP’s electoral prospects. 
 
 As Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) deadpanned, “A depression wouldn’t be a good thing.” 
 
 “I certainly agreed with him with his stance on the tariff issue, so I hate to him go as an adviser,” Johnson said. He worries that the GOP’s efforts to boost the economy through deregulation and tax cuts could be undone in a matter of days. “I’d hate to see that undermined by the uncertainty by potential trade wars. I don’t see how people win trade wars.” 
 
 Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who has been personally trying to dissuade Trump from instituting new tariffs, even said he thinks he might be able to convince Cohn to change his mind and stay. 
 
 “It’s a bad thing, because he’s one of the best people I’ve seen in government the whole time I’ve been here,” Hatch said. “I actually think we might be able to get him back.” 
 
 That Republicans are now begging for Cohn to stay represents a remarkable shift. Many in the GOP viewed Cohn, a registered Democrat, with skepticism when Trump tapped him to lead the National Economic Council last January. Now, they view him as an angel on Trump’s right shoulder countering an economic protectionist devil — Navarro — on the left. 
 
 But Hatch’s effort to convince Cohn to stay seems like a long shot. And without Cohn, there is no obvious avenue for the GOP’s myriad free traders to turn. Cohn was a crucial asset for the White House’s work with Capitol Hill, easy to reach and easy to negotiate with, according to Republican aides. 
 
 Cohn also was one of the few Trump officials that actually did have some sway with the minority party. 
 
 “He’s been the voice of reason in the administration and I’m sad to see him go,” said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). 
 
 In Cohn’s place, Republicans are concerned that Navarro’s influence will become more acutely felt as the president tries to renegotiate NAFTA. Thune said Navarro is giving Trump “bad advice.” 
 
 “I’m not a fan of his policies. I think he’s a protectionist,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), who has been leading the effort on Capitol Hill to keep the United States in NAFTA. 
 
 Some Republicans are hoping there are still a few voices inside the administration to provide a counterweight to Navarro, not to mention Trump, who’s also a longtime trade skeptic. 
 
 “I have a lot of confidence in [budget chief] Mick Mulvaney,” Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) told MSNBC when asked about any concerns he has following Cohn’s departure. “Mick used to be a free-trader.” 
 
 In an interview in the Capitol Wednesday, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York tried to list a few potential replacements for Cohn but seemed to be unsatisfied with his own answers other than Larry Kudlow, a free-market economist and TV personality. 
 
 “I would have said [Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared] Kushner, but I don’t know,” King said. Treasury Secretary Steven “Mnuchin? He seems to be going out of his way to talk about NAFTA, how they could change the tariffs for Canada and Mexico. He might be more sympathetic. I don’t know. I’m trying to think. Mick Mulvaney?” 
 
 For now, Republican senators have been taking their views on trade to Chief of Staff John Kelly, Thune said, but that might not be enough to persuade Trump. If the party wants to have any hope of limiting the scope of Trump’s oft-threatened trade war without the help of Cohn, it might have to be through the president himself. 
 
 “The president’s also very accessible. He’s actually in some ways easier to get ahold of” than Cohn, Corker said. “So if you want to voice something, you can voice it directly to him.” ||||| Trump: I still like Cohn and he may come back to the White House 1:11 PM ET Fri, 9 March 2018 | 01:36 
 
 President Donald Trump said Thursday that White House chief economic advisor Gary Cohn's departure from his administration may be temporary. 
 
 "This is Gary Cohn's last meeting of the Cabinet. He's been terrific. He may be a globalist, but I still like him," Trump said at the White House. "I have a feeling you'll be back. I don't know if I can put him in the same position though. He's not quite as strong on those tariffs as we want, but that's OK."
– President Trump bid farewell to Gary Cohn on Thursday, two days after the chief economic adviser resigned, while leaving the door open for Cohn to return to the White House in the future. "He's been terrific," Business Insider quotes Trump as saying during Cohn's final Cabinet meeting. "He may be a globalist, but I still like him. He's seriously a globalist, there's no question. But you know what? In his own way he's a nationalist because he loves this country." Cohn resigned after losing his fight against the president's planned tariffs on steel and aluminum, which he argued would hurt the US economy. "I have a feeling you'll be back," CNBC quotes Trump as saying. "I don't know if I can put him in the same position, though. He's not quite as strong on those tariffs as we want, but that's OK." For his part, Cohn said he would "absolutely" return to the White House. There's been some speculation Cohn could replace John Kelly as chief of staff should Trump decide to remove the latter. Politico reports Republican lawmakers are worried about the loss of Cohn, who they saw as a moderating influence on Trump's economic plans. “He was around to be whispering in the president’s ear. And he won’t be now,” says Sen. Bob Corker. Republicans are concerned Trump will tank the US economy through protectionist measures just in time for the 2018 midterms. Trump continued to allow himself flexibility in his planned tariffs during Thursday's Cabinet meeting, according to ABC News. “I’ll have a right to go up or down depending on the country and I’ll have a right to drop out countries or add countries,” Trump said. “I just want fairness."