The U.S. still controls the World Bank

• On paper, Okonjo-Iweala is far more qualified for the job than Malpass is, not least because she spent many years holding senior positions at the World Bank and knows how it works. She is also now a U.S. citizen and has interviewed at the White House for the World Bank job.
• If the White House doesn't nominate Okonjo-Iweala, Malpass would probably win a competitive race against her. European countries would be very hesitant to vote against the U.S. candidate, lest the U.S. vote against their candidate when the IMF job next comes up for a vote.

The bottom line: If the U.S. were interested in forging consensus at the World Bank, it would nominate someone like Okonjo-Iweala, or former PIMCO chief Mohamed El-Erian, or former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi. That candidate would then probably coast in unopposed. If Malpass gets the nod, that's a sign that Trump is uninterested in keeping the rest of the world happy.