Kiwi businessman Chris Liddell misses out on top Donald Trump role, reports say

Chris Liddell was tipped as Donald Trump's new economic adviser.

Kiwi businessman Chris Liddell has missed out on the role of US President Donald Trump's top economic adviser.

Liddell had been tipped as the frontrunner for the post - but reports out of Washington suggest Larry Kudlow has accepted the job to head the White House's National Economic Council.

The New Zealander joined the Trump administration last year. He is a former CFO at Microsoft and General Motors and was the chairman of Xero. The New York Times had reported he was in consideration for the top adviser role.

Instead Trump formally offered Kudlow the job yesterday to replace former Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn, who resigned last week, largely over a fight over imposing tariffs that he lost.

Kudlow, 70, is described by White House officials as someone who connects with the president personally and politically.

Kudlow, born and raised in New Jersey, shares with Trump a hard-charging personality and a fondness for being a media figure and both have hosted television programs. Kudlow has also been an informal Trump adviser over the past year.

He was also an adviser to Trump during the 2016 campaign and worked closely with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the design of an initial tax plan.

But in media appearances in the past month, Kudlow has been critical of Trump's proclamations imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports — opposition that for other candidates might have been disqualifying.

On March 3, Kudlow joined Steve Moore and Arthur Laffer in a column for CNBC.com that was sharply critical of Trump's proposal to impose the tariffs. Trump has said he understands Kudlow disagrees.

Kudlow worked in the Reagan White House but has spent much of his time in recent years working for CNBC and other media outlets.