World Bank vacancy presents Trump with an opportunity

Global Business

World Bank vacancy presents Trump with an opportunity

Donald Trump has proved himself no fan of some multilateral institutions.  But he now has the chance to shape one of the most important.

The President of the World Bank resigned effective this Friday—years before his second term was up.

It’s an opportunity for Trump to install a successor more in keeping with his own worldview.

CGTN’s Owen Fairclough reports.

Donald Trump is a president who wants to invest in fossil fuels – telling voters on the campaign trail, “We’re going to put the miners back to work.”

But the just-departed President of the World Bank, not so much.

Two years ago Jim Yong Kim said that by 2019 the World Bank would no longer finance oil and gas exploration. 

 As World Bank President, Jim doubled investment to help developing countries – the bank’s main beneficiaries – deal with climate change.

Trump pulled the U.S. out of the international treaty on it.

But Jim – appointed by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama – has unexpectedly quit three years before his term end is due to end. He’ll be joining a private equity firm.

It’s an opportunity for Trump. Under an informal agreement, the World Bank President has traditionally been chosen by the U.S.

According to Bloomberg, Trump is considering U.S. Treasury official David Malpass—currently part of the team negotiating with China over trade tensions.