Christopher Nixon Cox, the grandson of the late U.S. President Richard Nixon, is likely to join the Trump administration as an economic staffer focused on trade with China, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Cox lives in New York and is a managing partner and co-founder of OC Global Partners LLC. He would likely take over the China portfolio at the National Economic Council, the people said. His potential hire comes amid an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
NEC Director Larry Kudlow and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have repeatedly tried to ease tensions in the monthslong conflict. Both are said to be pushing for a summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year, though Kudlow said Thursday a meeting at the Group of 20 nations summit in Argentina next month is uncertain.
One of the people said the vetting process as well as discussions about Nixon Cox's potential portfolio are ongoing, and the hiring is therefore not yet official.