President-elect Donald Trump announced earlier today that Howard Lutnick, chairman & CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will serve as secretary of commerce in his second administration. As stated in a Trump-Vance transition press release:
I am thrilled to announce that Howard Lutnick, Chairman & CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will join my Administration as the United States Secretary of Commerce. He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
In his role as Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team, Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest Administration America has ever seen.
The press release also included a biography of Lutnick, noting the impact of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees, and highlighting his resilience in rebuilding the company, honoring the victims, and supporting their families:
Howard has been a dynamic force on Wall Street for more than 30 years. He joined Cantor Fitzgerald in 1983, and rapidly rose through the ranks to become President and CEO at the age of 29. Tragedy struck on September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, and Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 of its 960 New York-based employees, including Howard’s brother and his best friend. He emerged from these events with an indomitable sense of purpose to rebuild the firm to honor those lost, support their families, and become a beacon of hope for those who remained. He was an inspiration to the World – The embodiment of resilience in the face of unspeakable tragedy.
Howard and the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund donated $180 Million Dollars to his 9/11 families. He remains deeply committed to philanthropic endeavors, donating more than $100 Million Dollars to victims of terrorism, natural disasters, and other emergencies around the world.
Howard is on the Board of Directors of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and Weill Cornell Medicine. He was named the Financial Times’ Person of the Year in 2001 and Ernst & Young’s United States Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010. Howard also received the Department of the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest honor granted to non-military personnel by the Navy.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) responded to Trump nominating Lutnick, stating he is an outstanding choice, and noted House Republicans are ready to work with him. He posted on X:
Regarding trade policy, Lutnick is a proponent of broad tariffs. He has remarked on the strength of the U.S. economy in 1900, pointing to the lack of a federal income tax and the existence of high tariffs at the time.
Perhaps more controversially, in October he defended Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s claim that vaccines contribute to autism in children.
