Trump's pick to replace Gary Cohn will tell you a lot about the direction of the White House

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President Donald Trump

• National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, who was Trump's top economic adviser, is resigning in the coming weeks.
• A person who has advised Trump on economic issues told Business Insider that Larry Kudlow is the favorite to replace Cohn.
• This person views Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget chief, as a dark-horse candidate.
• Other names that have been floated include Peter Navarro, the director of the White House Trade Council.
• Trump's pick for the position could be a big indicator for the future of his economic policy.

Speculation swirled Wednesday over President Donald Trump's choice to replace Gary Cohn as his top economic adviser, as observers say Cohn's replacement could provide a significant clue to the future of the Trump agenda.

"The president's got a number of people that could potentially fill that role," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Wednesday. "What I can assure you obviously is he's going to make a good pick that can help him continue to further building a strong economy and continue creating jobs and continue focusing on long-term economic success."

Trump tweeted on Wednesday he will "choose wisely!"

A person who has advised Trump on economic issues told Business Insider that the frontrunner is Larry Kudlow, an former economist in the Ronald Reagan administration who now appears prominently as a commentator on CNBC.

The person also said that Mick Mulvaney, who now has dual roles as the Office and Management and Budget director and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director, is viewed as a dark horse candidate.

Another leading candidate that has been floated is Peter Navarro, currently the director of the White House Trade Council and a staunch advocate for more protectionist trade policies. Navarro denied Wednesday that he is a candidate during an appearance on Bloomberg TV.

Other names that have been mentioned include Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, and Shahira Knight, the top tax adviser on the National Economic Council.

The stakes are high

Who Trump picks could determine just how far the president takes his protectionist trade tendencies and turns them into policy.

For months, Cohn was able to curb Trump's ambitions for increased tariffs and trade restrictions. If Trump were to pick someone like Navarro, it would signal a full embrace of the more restrictionist positions that are at the core of the president's economic beliefs.

But if Trump picks Kudlow or someone similar, that would provide the White House with a strong free-trade voice to counterbalance the protectionist positions.

"The National Economic Council is a home base for economic alphas - Bob Rubin, Larry Summers, etc.," Chris Kreuger, an analyst at Cowen Washington Research Group, wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. "Its stature rises and falls with its inhabitants. The Federal Reserve it is not."