Trump adviser rejects talk of isolationism
DAVOS, Switzerland - An adviser to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says he received no prior “talking points” to bring up at the World Economic Forum, rebutting concerns in some areas about possible U.S. isolationism ahead.
Anthony Scaramucci, a financier and veteran of the well-heeled annual gathering in Davos, said Trump had told him: “’Go and do a good job,’ That’s what he always says, actually, ‘Go do a good job.’”
Speaking Tuesday to The Associated Press on a golf-cart shuttle ride through snowy Alpine town, Scaramucci insisted that Trump will be engaged in foreign trade, but “free, fair trade ... he’s not talking about isolationism.”
Scaramucci, who is part of Mr. Trump’s transition team, said global elites have to get out of their comfort zones and listen to the people if they don’t understand how Trump was elected or why Britain voted to leave the European Union.
The financier, a Wall Street veteran who formerly worked at Goldman Sachs (GS) and is co-founder of hedge fund Skybridge Capital, also said that measures enacted by the world’s central banks to speed economic growth since the 2008 financial crisis have mostly helped the rich.
The remaining people are “struggling,” he said at a panel on the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
To those among the global elites who don’t understand that post-crisis phenomenon, Scaramucci had a message: “Go to the prairie lands of the United States, or perhaps places in Great Britain or places in Europe. You know the places. Listen to the people. We have to as a collective group of people come up with the right policies.”
Reporting for CBS News from Davos, Switzerland: Lulu Chiang, Lauren Hoenemeyer and Gilad Thaler