The United States President-elect, Donald Trump, has named Howard Lutnick, a prominent Wall Street executive and chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, to serve as commerce secretary in his incoming administration.
The role entailed verseeing a 51,000-person agency with an $11 billion budget and responsibility for key sectors like manufacturing, trade, the census, and technology regulation.
Lutnick, who led Trump’s transition team, was initially considered for Treasury secretary. However, his close and frequent presence at Mar-a-Lago, where the president-elect was strategising for his second term, reportedly caused friction with Trump. Despite this, his $1 million donation to Trump’s super PAC in recent years was believed to have solidified his candidacy.
If confirmed, Lutnick will follow a tradition of commerce secretaries being drawn from a president’s pool of donors. However, his appointment could face scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest, as he has not stepped…
Source: Leadership Newspaper
