Trump taps Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary
Billionaire financier, who has been supportive of Trump’s tariffs plan, will oversee issues related to foreign and domestic trade; had been maneuvering for Treasury nod
Luke Tress is a JTA reporter and a former editor and reporter in New York for The Times of Israel.
JTA — US President-elect Donald Trump nominated billionaire financier Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition team, as commerce secretary on Tuesday.
The appointment was reported by several publications hours before it was made public on Tuesday, after several Trump associates including Lutnick had jockeyed for the position of treasury secretary. Lutnick, who is Jewish, had been considered one of the top candidates for that role.
Instead, he is poised to become commerce secretary, a cabinet member who oversees issues related to foreign and domestic trade. In the position, Lutnick would manage the tariffs Trump has repeatedly promised to enact upon taking office. Lutnick has expressed support for the plans, which were a key piece of Trump’s campaign and have elicited contentious debate among economists and retailers.
He will also have “additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative,” Trump said in a statement confirming the appointment, which is subject to Senate confirmation.
Lutnick, 63, is a member of Trump’s inner circle and is the CEO of finance firm Cantor Fitzgerald. He raised campaign funds for Trump and has taken on a prominent role on the President-elect’s team in recent months, speaking for Trump in the media, and earning plaudits from Trump family members and the campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A New York native, Lutnick accompanied Trump to the grave of the late spiritual leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, last month.
Lutnick is a supporter of Israel-focused causes, including the first responder group United Hatzalah and Birthright, which organizes free 10-day trips to the country.
Health Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk, who has become one of Trump’s confidantes, had thrown their weight behind Lutnick, who Musk said “will actually enact change.” But The New York Times reported that Lutnick “has gotten on Mr. Trump’s nerves lately.”
Trump is expected to interview another Jewish billionaire investor, Marc Rowan, at Mar-a-Lago this week for the role of treasury secretary.
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.
