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Of all U.S. President Donald Trump's advisors, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick is widely seen as the strongest advocate for tariffs. Some recent media reports have even described him as the architect behind the administration’s plan to impose tariffs on imports into the United States.
Even if Trump ultimately made the final decisions on which tariffs to implement, he did so with the full support of the Jewish American businessman, who until recently served as chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, the global financial services firm.
Lutnick was one of Trump’s earliest cabinet appointments and has frequently represented the administration in the media. Over the past weekend, the 63-year-old appeared on nearly every major news outlet, energetically defending the decision to impose tariffs. “The operation has happened, the patient is in bed and starting to recover,” he said.
However, some White House officials and allies of the president outside the administration have expressed concern over Lutnick’s growing influence on economic policy. Over the past month, critics have argued that his frequent television appearances reveal a poor understanding of basic economic principles and how tariffs function. Several Trump allies have privately said they worry Lutnick tells the president what he wants to hear, not what he needs to hear.
One such ally claimed that Lutnick would propose an idea in the Oval Office, then rush to the cameras to present it as if it were official White House policy. “He’s constantly auditioning for Trump’s approval,” the source said.
“He’s trying to be a mini-Trump. I don’t think he got the memo that only Trump gets to be Trump,” another source told Politico. “It just reinforces that he doesn’t really know how to do the job.”
In an interview with CNN, Lutnick defended the administration’s decision to impose a 20% tariff on imports from the European Union by saying the EU refuses to import American beef. “They hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak,” he said.
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Lutnick’s net worth is estimated at around $4 billion, but his life has been marked by personal tragedy. Raised in New York, he lost both parents at a young age—his mother to cancer when he was 15, and his father a year later. On September 11, 2001, Cantor Fitzgerald’s offices were located on the 104th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The company lost 658 employees that day, including Lutnick’s brother.
The tragedy made Lutnick a familiar figure in the media, eventually landing him a spot on The Apprentice, Donald Trump’s reality show, where their relationship began.
Lutnick went on to become one of Trump’s top fundraisers in the 2020 and 2024 campaigns and served as chairman of the transition team. Still, some within Trump’s inner circle believe Lutnick may be among the first to exit the administration, citing his lack of popularity among key advisors—especially since Trump returned to the White House. This, they say, is why he was appointed secretary of commerce rather than heading the Department of the Treasury, as he had hoped.