Trump nominates Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary
ANGELA WEISS / AFP
- Trump has nominated Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary.
- It's a pivotal pick given that economic concerns helped fuel Trump's win.
- Lutnick had been viewed as a frontrunner for the position of treasury secretary.
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated billionaire finance executive Howard Lutnick as his next commerce secretary.
"He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative," Trump said in a statement first posted on Truth Social and later released by his transition team.
"Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest Administration America has ever seen," Trump said.
Lutnick, who is Trump's transition team cochair alongside the WWE chief Linda McMahon, had been seen as a frontrunner for the treasury secretary position.
Lutnick even garnered the support of Elon Musk for the role. Despite some powerful backing, Lutnick's private jockeying for the role wore on those around Trump, according to multiple reports.
Now, with Lutnick out of the picture, Trump is likely nearing his final decision for his last major Cabinet appointment.
Commerce secretary will be a pivotal role in the Trump administration, given economic concerns played a key role in fueling Trump's victory.
As the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick is a New York financial powerhouse. He's known Trump for decades and has hosted fundraisers for the president-elect and appeared on TV as a surrogate.
He spoke onstage at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, touting the tariffs of yesteryear and Musk's forthcoming DOGE initiative alongside the Tesla billionaire.
Lutnick is known for steering Cantor Fitzgerald through the September 11, 2002, terrorist attacks.
The firm's offices were located at the top of one of the World Trade Center towers, and roughly two-thirds of its workforce was killed that day. It lost more workers on 9/11 than any other company.
Lutnick's brother was killed in the attack, but Lutnick survived because he happened to be taking his son to school that morning.