Trump expected to name Howard Lutnick, Wall Street CEO, as commerce secretary

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to select investment banker Howard Lutnick as his next commerce secretary, according to three people familiar with the decision.

Lutnick, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, is the chairman and chief executive of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Lutnick until a few days ago was being considered to run the Treasury Department.

Although two people said they believe the decision is final, Trump has not yet announced the pick and is known to change his mind at the last minute. All three spoke on the condition of anonymity because the choice has not been officially announced.

As commerce secretary, Lutnick would play a leading role in implementing the president’s economic and trade agenda. The department oversees a broad array of federal policies, including on semiconductors, cybersecurity and patents. If confirmed, Lutnick would have considerable influence over the trajectory of the U.S. economy over the next four years, responsible for executing some of the promises central to Trump’s 2024 campaign.

During Trump’s first term, the department placed sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum and blocked Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies from using American technology and software. The Biden administration mostly continued those policies, and the president-elect is said to be planning even tougher measures to curtail China’s tech boom. Trump has promised stiff tariffs of at least 10 percent on all imports and 60 percent for Chinese goods, some of which could fall under Commerce Department purview.

“The focus is going to be predominantly China,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, a former Trump Commerce Department assistant secretary who is now a partner at the law firm Wiley. “There is a real sense of urgency there. Commerce has to make the economy grow, and part of that is to make sure we’re able to run faster than our adversaries.”

The department’s wide-ranging purview - which includes overseeing coastal fisheries, atomic clocks and patents, along with the Census Bureau and National Weather Service - has earned it a reputation as the “hall closet of the government.”

In addition to running Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick is chairman and chief executive of the investment firm BGC Group and executive chairman of the real estate brokerage Newmark Group. He has donated to both Democrats and Republicans in the past and once appeared on Trump’s NBC reality show, “The Apprentice.” He shared the stage with Trump at events in the closing days of his campaign, including the rally at Madison Square Garden.

Lutnick is also a supporter of the cryptocurrency Tether, a stablecoin whose value is tied to the U.S. dollar. In media interviews leading up to the election, Lutnick repeatedly plugged Tether, for which he said he manages some financial holdings.

“There’s a company that I like. It’s called Tether,” Lutnick told Bloomberg News in January. “I manage many, many of their assets,” he added.

The specifics of how he manages Tether’s assets are unclear. He declined through a bank spokeswoman to comment on his ties to Tether last weekend.

If Lutnick did move to the Commerce Department, he would probably have to unwind his considerable financial assets, since incoming Cabinet officials are often directed by the Office of Government Ethics to sell or divest themselves of assets that could pose conflicts of interest or the appearance of one. The Trump transition also committed to a code of ethical conduct that requires members to remove themselves from involvement “in any particular Transition matter” that to their knowledge “may directly conflict with a financial interest” of theirs.

Lutnick’s ties to Tether also reflect the broader alliance between the crypto industry and many other figures whom Trump is expected to tap for important government positions in his second administration. Trump has repeatedly boasted of his support from the industry, which now has extensive ties to members of both parties.