Trump fills out his economic team with two veterans of his first administration

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is turning to two officials with experience navigating not only Washington but the key issues of income taxes and tariffs as he fills out his economic team.

Trump on Tuesday announced he has chosen international trade attorney Jamieson Greer to be his U.S. trade representative and Kevin Hassett as director of the White House National Economic Council.

While Trump has in several cases nominated outsiders to key posts, these picks reflect a recognition that his reputation will likely hinge on restoring the public’s confidence in the economy.

The president-elect also announced a number of other key personnel choices, including Vince Haley, who led Trump's speechwriting department in his first term, as director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Trump said in a statement that Greer was instrumental in his first term in imposing tariffs on China and others and replacing the trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, “therefore making it much better for American Workers.”

Greer previously served as chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, Trump's former trade representative who is deeply skeptical of free trade. Greer is currently a partner at the King & Spalding law firm in Washington. He was not immediately available for comment.

If confirmed as trade representative, Greer would be responsible for negotiating directly with foreign governments on trade deals and disputes, as well as memberships in international trade bodies such as the World Trade Organization.

He told The New York Times in June that the view of Trump officials was that tariffs “can help support U.S. manufacturing jobs in particular, especially to the extent that they’re remediating an unfair trade practice.”

His nomination comes a day after Trump promised to slap huge new tariffs on foreign goods entering the United States — including a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China — as one of his first executive orders.

As director of the White House National Economic Council, Hassett brings into Trump's administration a major advocate for tax cuts.

Trump said Hassett “will play an important role in helping American families recover from the inflation that was unleashed by the Biden Administration” and that together they would “renew and improve” the 2017 tax cuts, many of which are set to expire after 2025.

Hassett, 62, served in the first Trump term as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017.

As part of Hassett’s farewell announcement in 2019, Trump called him a “true friend” who did a “great job.” Hassett became a fellow at the Hoover Institution, which is located at Stanford University. He later returned to the administration to help deal with the pandemic.

In Trump's second term, Hassett would join a White House seeking to preserve and expand its 2017 tax cuts at a time when deficit pressures are weighing on federal borrowing costs.

He has argued that the tax cuts helped to meaningfully boost household incomes. Inflation-adjusted median household incomes jumped more than $5,400 in 2019 to $81,210. But the tax cuts also came with higher budget deficits as any economic gains failed to offset lost revenues, setting up a challenge for the incoming Trump administration to manage the debt even as it cuts taxes and seeks to hold down inflation.

Also included in Tuesday's nomination announcements was private investor, campaign donor and art collector John Phelan, chosen to serve as Navy secretary. Phelan co-founded MSD Capital, the private investment firm for Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies. It is unclear whether Phelan served in the Navy or military.

Boak reported from Nantucket, Massachusetts. Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - White House senior adviser Kevin Hassett speaks with reporters at the White House, June 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - White House senior adviser Kevin Hassett speaks as President Donald Trump and others listen during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 5, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

MIAMI (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo, the league's leading scorer this season, was unexpectedly held out of the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA Cup game at the Miami Heat on Tuesday night with swelling in his left knee.

He had been expected to play until about an hour before the game. The team had Antetokounmpo listed as probable with a strained left calf, and then the knee issue evidently flared up.

“I never know,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said, about 90 minutes before game time and moments after the team said there was an issue with the knee. “Honestly, that's breaking news to me, too, right now.”

The Bucks beat Miami 106-103 with Damian Lillard leading the way with 37 points and 12 assists. Milwaukee outscored Miami 60-30 from 3-point range.

Rivers got told about an hour before the game that Antetokounmpo was out, then huddled with coaches and adjusted the game plan accordingly. Even after the game, Rivers still wasn't clear on what had happened and what flared with Antetokounmpo's knee.

“Giannis doesn't miss many games,” Rivers said. “Whatever it is, I'm sure it was the right thing to do.”

Milwaukee doesn't play again until hosting Washington on Saturday. The NBA — under the player participation policy that went into effect last season — has a rule stating that “unless a team demonstrates an approved reason for a star player not to participate in a game,” it must have the star players “for all national television and NBA In-Season Tournament games.”

Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, obviously qualifies as a star player by league definition, and the game in Miami was both nationally televised on TNT and an NBA Cup game. The league fined the Atlanta Hawks $100,000 earlier Tuesday for violating the policy by holding Trae Young out of a Cup game against Boston on Nov. 12, after a probe concluded he could have played.

Antetokounmpo — the reigning Eastern Conference player of the week, an award he has captured 24 times — not playing against the Heat does not necessarily mean there will even be a league investigation. The eight-time All-Star is averaging a career-best 32.4 points on 61% shooting this season, and he played in 16 of Milwaukee's first 17 games.

“Listen, the way he plays and how he works, there’s going to be things like this," Rivers said. “And when they come, you just deal with them.”

Khris Middleton, Milwaukee's three-time All-Star forward who has yet to play this season after undergoing surgery on both ankles in the offseason, is ramping up toward a return by getting some 5-on-5 work in on the practice floor.

But there doesn’t seem to be a timetable for a return to games.

“He’s not ready to play yet, but he’s working hard,” Rivers said Tuesday. “He’s gone through 5-on-5. We’ve done some of that. The next steps are getting on the floor, but I can’t tell you when that’s going to happen.”

Rivers noted that Middleton has been playing 4-on-4 for some time and cautioned against reading too much into 5-on-5 work.

“I don’t know what the difference is,” Rivers said. “We added a guy, so I wouldn’t make that big of a deal about it. The key is we just try to get him back on the floor. He’s got to go through the process.”

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Charlotte Hornets' Moussa Diabate fouls Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 125-119. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Milwaukee. The Bucks won 125-119. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)