Trump plans to nominate billionaire Wall Street banker for commerce secretary

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick arsenic commerce caput successful his caller administration, Trump announced connected Tuesday.

The 63-year-old billionaire has been co-chair of Trump's modulation team, helping to see and vet galore radical to presume top-level authorities jobs aft Trump takes bureau connected January 20. Lutnick has been an outspoken Trump protagonist successful caller months.

The CEO and president of the Cantor Fitzgerald planetary fiscal services firm, Lutnick was reported to beryllium successful contention to go Treasury secretary, different apical occupation Trump has yet to fill. But Trump associates accidental Lutnick fell retired of favour for the Treasury occupation amid conflicts with different starring candidate, capitalist Scott Bessent.

If nominated to go commerce caput and confirmed by the Senate, arsenic would beryllium likely, Lutnick could play a starring relation successful implementing the president's economical and commercialized policies.

Trump has projected wide increases successful tariffs connected imported goods, an effort to boost American manufacturing of the aforesaid products, but 1 that successful the adjacent word threatens to summation prices for American consumers and disrupt the planetary economy.

The Commerce Department oversees an array of national concern policies, including connected semiconductors, cybersecurity and patents, and helps beforehand caller businesses and economical maturation successful the United States, the world's biggest economy.

Lutnick has donated to some Democrats and Republicans successful the past. He besides erstwhile appeared connected Trump's NBC world TV amusement "The Apprentice" earlier Trump was archetypal elected president successful 2016.

The Cantor Fitzgerald steadfast that Lutnick heads mislaid much employees — 658 retired of 960 — than immoderate different concern successful the September 11, 2001, al-Qaida violent onslaught connected the duplicate towers of the World Trade Center successful New York. Another 46 contractors and visitors who were successful the Cantor Fitzgerald offices that time were killed erstwhile the towers collapsed.

Lutnick's member Gary was among those killed erstwhile hijackers flew commercialized jetliners into the skyscrapers, hitting the North Tower conscionable beneath wherever Cantor Fitzgerald occupied floors 101 to 105. Howard Lutnick would person been determination arsenic good but was taking his lad Kyle to his archetypal time of kindergarten.

Back astatine the site, Howard Lutnick survived the illness of the South Tower by taking screen nether a adjacent car. He aboriginal created the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund to assistance families of victims of the attacks and earthy disasters.