What to know about Howard Lutnick, Trump's pick for commerce secretary
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Howard Lutnick, head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary.
The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial.
Lutnick, a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration, once appeared on Trump’s NBC reality show, “The Apprentice." He has become a part of the president-elect’s inner circle.
Here are things to know about the billionaire who, if confirmed by the Senate, will lead the Commerce Department.
Elon Musk and others in Trump’s orbit called on Trump last week to dump previous front-runner for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, in favor of Lutnick. Musk said in a post that “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change.”
The treasury role has been at the center of an unusual high-profile jockeying within the Trump world. At the same time, the position is closely watched in financial circles, where a disruptive nominee could have immediate negative consequences on the stock market, which Trump watches closely. Trump has yet to decide on one of the top remaining vacancies in his proposed cabinet.
The major
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