Washington According to two people familiar with the process, President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will appoint Howard Lutnick, a billionaire financial services executive and important transition aide, to head the Commerce Department.
In a statement announcing the appointment, Trump said, “He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.”
The CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald has spearheaded Trump’s transition and served as its public face.
What his appointment to a Cabinet position would entail for his future participation in the transition is still unknown.
Lutnick has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s program as co-chair of his transition, outlining the president-elect’s intentions to utilize tariffs once in office. Lutnick is the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a giant in the financial services industry. In order to implement some of Trump’s suggested taxes on items imported into the US, the Commerce Department will be crucial.
Lutnick began working for Cantor Fitzgerald in the early 1980s after earning a degree in economics from Haverford College in Pennsylvania. He had severe personal sorrow early in life, losing his father in his first week of college and his mother while still a high school student. When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, Lutnick was employed at Cantor Fitzgerald, the company’s headquarters. Lutnick’s brother was among the hundreds of Cantor Fitzgerald employees that perished.
As New York attempted to recover from the attacks, Lutnick became a vocal supporter of the business community.
Lutnick was considered a strong candidate for the Treasury Secretary position, which was one of the remaining top Cabinet positions in the future Trump administration. The announcement of the Commerce Secretary comes after days of speculation. Punchbowl News was the first to report about Lutnick’s selection.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by a transition official.
Who Trump would choose to head the Treasury Department is still up in the air. Over the weekend, Lutnick garnered public backing from Elon Musk, the entrepreneur who was recently appointed to head a new Department of Government Efficiency.
Since the election, Musk has been at Mar-a-Lago almost constantly, demonstrating his connection to Trump.
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