President Donald Trump, from left, speaks as Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick listen and Rupert Murdoch listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington, as Trump prepares to sign an executive order. (AP)
If confirmed, Lutnick will become one of the wealthiest people to serve in a presidential administration, along with Elon Musk and Trump himself. During Lutnick’s confirmation hearing, he committed to selling all of his interests and assets if confirmed.
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"My plan is to only serve the American people. So I will divest — meaning I will sell all of my interests, all of my business interests, all of my assets, everything," Lutnick said. "I've worked together with the Office of Government Ethics, and we've reached agreement on how to do that, and I will be divesting within 90 days upon my confirmation."
Howard Lutnick, chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP and US commerce secretary nominee for US President Donald Trump, right, and President Donald Trump during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty)
Trump applauded Lutnick’s leadership during the presidential transition, saying he "created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest Administration America has ever seen."
With Lutnick teed up to lead Trump’s "Tariff and Trade agenda," he faced questions during his confirmation hearing about tariff policy. Lutnick said the argument that tariffs create inflation is "nonsense."
Howard Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and Co-Chair of the Trump 2024 Transition Team speaks at a rally for former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York, October 27, 2024. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
"We are treated horribly by the global trading environment. They all have higher tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and subsidies. They treat us poorly. We need to be treated better. We can use tariffs to create reciprocity," Lutnick said.
Lutnick testified that he shares Trump’s stance on tariffs, adding he prefers an "across-the-board" strategy to "country-by-country" tariffs.
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Trump on Monday announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports from all countries, adding up to a 35% tariff for Chinese steel and aluminum imports. The tariffs are set to go into effect on March 12.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-nominee-commerce-secretary-passes-key-vote-senate