Trump unveils economic policy team, includes John Paulson

Spencer Platt | Getty Images. Donald Trump announced Thursday a 12-person economic team that will help to guide his often inconsistent policy statements.·CNBC

Donald Trump has unveiled an economic team that includes hedge titan John Paulson to help guide the GOP presidential candidate's sometimes-inconsistent policy statements.

Other members are Steve Roth, Harold Hamm, Howard Lorber, Steven Mnuchin, Tom Barrack, Stephen M. Calk, Andy Beal, Steve Feinberg, David Malpass, Peter Navarro, Stephen Moore and Dan DiMicco.

The campaign's policy team will be led by national director of policy Stephen Miller and deputy director Dan Kowalski.

"I am pleased that we have such a formidable group of experienced and talented individuals that will work with me to implement real solutions for the economic issues facing our country," Trump said in a statement emailed Friday.

  • Paulson is the founder of investment firm Paulson and Co., and made billions betting against subprime mortgages in 2007 leading up to the financial crisis.

  • Roth is the billionaire head of Vornado Realty.

  • Hamm is a billionaire oilman and CEO of Continental Resources .

  • Lorber is the CEO of tobacco and real estate company Vector Group.

  • Mnuchin is Trump's national finance chairman, and the chairman and CEO of hedge fund Dune Capital Management.

  • Barrack served in the Reagan administration as deputy undersecretary of interior, and is founder and chairman of Colony Capital.

  • Calk is the chairman and CEO of The Federal Savings Bank.

  • Beal is the billionaire founder and chairman of Beal Bank and Beal Bank USA.

  • Feinberg is the billionaire co-founder and CEO of Cerberus Capital Management.

  • Malpass is a former Bear Stearns chief economist who has had high-ranking roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations.

  • Navarro is an economics professor at the University of California, Irvine.

  • Moore is a former member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board and a founder of the Club for Growth.

  • DiMicco is former CEO of steel company Nucor.

The announcement comes ahead of Trump's planned economic policy speech in Detroit on Monday. Trump is slated to detail personal and corporate tax cuts as well as energy and health-care policy changes aimed to boost American economic growth.

"It's going to be a very substantial pro-growth message," Larry Kudlow, a senior CNBC contributor and informal adviser to the Trump campaign, said Thursday.

The policy team announcement and economic speech come as the Trump campaign tries to refocus its message after a tumultuous week . Trump has sagged in recent polls against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton , and more headlines have focused on his antics than his policies.

In recent days, Trump has declined to endorse GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan for re-election and clashed with the parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier. Meanwhile, more prominent Republicans have said they will not vote for him.

An economic policy focus would mark a welcome shift for the Trump campaign. The billionaire developer has repeatedly highlight his business acumen in pitches to voters, but given an inconsistent picture of his policy in public appearances.

Correction: This story was revised to correct the spelling of Dan Kowalski's, which was misspelled in the announcement. It also deleted an incorrect reference to the number of members in the economic team and corrected the spelling of Bear in Bear Stearns.



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