Howard Lutnick was tapped to serve as President Trump's Secretary of Commerce, so executives from some of the world's biggest companies are trying to beat him.
Leaders of Nvidia, Facebook and Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer Alphabet visited a newly purchased $25 million property in Washington.
As Trump ratcheted tariffs to levels not seen in the century, Ford Motor, General Motors, and other companies that built businesses around international trade reached out to Rutnick in the hopes that he could convince the president to take a less aggressive approach. Some chief executives called the Secretary of Commerce in the middle of the night.
Lutnick, 63, leads the sector that promotes and regulates industry and oversees trade. As a result, he finds himself in an incredibly influential position.
Rutnick, a former bond trader who won billions on Wall Street, has become one of the largest salesmen of tariffs in a generally unified government on profits. He publicly reflects the president's message that there is a need for a large tariff to revive American industry, and that if businesses don't like them, they should build factories in the United States.
However, in internal conversations in administration, he was often a voice of moderation. He argued in favor of suspending his global tariffs for 90 days after Trump sent convulsions from the stock and bond markets. And he advocated to give the President relief to certain positive industries, helping him win a multi-billion dollar tax exemption.
After the country's biggest car company argued Lutnick that tariffs in Canada and Mexico would undermine the competitiveness of U.S. auto plants, Lutnick lobbyed the president in March to secure a massive exemption.
In April, Lutnick helped him and other officials push for the exception that saved the e-company from serious Chinese tariffs after receiving calls from executives such as Apple's Tim Cook and Dell Technologies' Michael Dell.
Trump appears to regret accepting such an exclusion. He troubled his peers that he didn't want to do them in the first place, and wrote in the Truth Society in April that “no one is 'hooking'.”
Companies are deeply confused about the direction of their trade policy, but are determined to lobby for a more favorable exemption than ever before.
Rutnick did not respond to requests for an interview. A Commerce Department spokesman declined to comment. The New York Times spoke with more than 30 business executives, current and former commerce employees, Cantor Fitzgerald, former Wall Street company of White House and Rutnick.
Rutnick isn't always on the side of supporting the industry. Often he employs tariffs or other offensive tactical threats against other companies to encourage them to invest more in the United States.
Lutnick, for example, suspended payments to businesses in the Chips program, a bipartisan multi-billion dollar effort to rebuild the American semiconductor industry. According to three well-versed in the conversation, Lutnick has pressured them to increase US investment if companies want to receive funds despite already signing contracts for those payments.
He also gives the impression that companies may get tariff relief by investing more in the US, discusses holding tariffs paid by companies in escrow and returns the money if they invest in us. Companies such as Apple, TSMC and Nvidia have announced their investments since Trump began threatening tariffs.
As a former investment banker, Rutnick appears to be particularly interested in novel ways to strengthen government finances. He supported Trump's plan to sell citizenship to wealthy foreigners with a “gold card” and spoke about the government's cuts from patents and innovation.
Lutnick has renamed the “American Assets Department” Department of the Interior and is using tariff revenue to fund a new sovereign wealth fund. He also spoke enthusiastically about establishing a new “investment accelerator” aimed at reducing the deficit for investors.
Lutnick's supporters say it brings the fresh thoughts that are so badly needed in Washington. But executives and foreign officials have described some of his proposals as funny and harmful, according to a half dozen people familiar with the exchange.
And despite overseeing a vast government agency, Rutnick is working to expand his reach even further.
He has moved to take control of customs to make Trump's “external revenue services” (collecting import taxes) a reality. Rutnick also expressed interest in gaining authority over the US postal service. After Trump gave him “24 hours,” in Lutnick's words, he found a way to fix the finances of the post office, Lutnick suggested that he fuse it with the Commerce Department and use postal workers to conduct a census.
As the president's go-to advisor, Lutnick helped instigate Trump's impulses and instincts. After Trump expressed concern that the US was losing its influence over the Panama Canal, Lutnick installed two iPhones to a friend and recorded a video of the ship's traffic through the canal, telling the audience at a meeting in Washington in March. Lutnick shared the video with Trump, who lamented how much Chinese writing is on the side of boats and shipping containers. “The Panamas were sold out,” he said.
Most of the ideas that Rutnik appears to be most enthusiastic about are within the traditional scope of the Department of Commerce, an agency with around 50,000 employees that oversee business, weather surveillance, fisheries, artificial intelligence and commercial space activities.
Within the department, employees say morale plummeted as the administration piled up on jobs and cut hundreds of jobs significantly. Engineers and scientists who have dedicated their careers to making America more globally competitive, one of the Trump administration's stated goals, say they're ladderless.
Some Commerce employees said Lutnick, unlike his past secretary, did not send welcome emails or give him a welcome address, and that he had not emailed him or met in person for a month after confirmation. Lutnick told others he plans to spend most of his time at the White House.
Many employees believe that Lutnick is focused on one audience. The guy he calls “DJT.” Lutnick often talks about the president's intuition, wisdom and forewarnings. He boasts about having a regular Friday night dinner with Trump. And he explains the day he tells the president “good day.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, said Lutnick has “unique chemistry” and “an instinct to find a hidden lever of power to implement policies.” He described Lutnick as “sick, funny, irresistibly buoyant.”
“I think if you cut his head he's still going to laugh,” Kennedy said.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer described Lutnick as “relentless” and described him as a “very close partner” in developing and implementing trade policies. “This country is very fortunate to have led him to public service,” he said.
At dinner at the Australian Embassy in February, he gave a keynote address, saying that he first brushed Trump at a New York Charity Dinner decades ago. The line met in awkward silence, said those present.
Rutnick told a group of foreign officials and investors that the US economy was the biggest at the turn of the century when there were high tariffs on foreign products. He said Trump plans to build a “customs wall” around the United States, urging foreigners to be on the right side of it.
Some foreign governments that negotiated with Rutnick have described him as rude and offensive. Canadian officials say they issued a series of devastating threats in a February call, warning Trump that he could banish Canada from the intelligence reporting division from five eyes and review defense systems that would protect both countries from foreign missiles.
In contrast, Mexican officials described Lutonic as harsh but attractive, saying they are accepting their argument that the automotive supply chain that runs between countries is beneficial to U.S. factories.
“With us, he was constructive,” said Luis Rosend Gutiels Romano, Mexican deputy trade secretary.
Lutnick appears to enjoy his role in Trump's orbit. He threw a gorgeous confirmation party at his Washington home in February. Lutnick and his wife, Allison, have mixed with executives like Senator, Wall Street trader and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg.
He also embraced the media spotlight. Some of his almost day television appearances have been accused of building vigilance among Trump officials and allies, as well as accusations of Trump's billionaire cabinet not in contact.
In late March, Lutnick said in an interview that only “con artists” would complain about missing out on social security checks, and that the 94-year-old stepmother would “not call and complain.”
In April, Ratnick said in a TV interview that “millions of humans are screwing small screws in to make iPhones – that's what's going to come to America.”
First in Washington, Lutnick has spent more than 30 years as chief executive of New York brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, and has opened up considerable fortunes in a cruelly competitive industry. He also led the broker-dealer BGC Group and was a top executive at Newmark, a commercial real estate company.
Mr. Lutnick's life was tragic, and he encouraged him to provide more protection to his friends and family, and build an empire of wealth around them. He suddenly lost his parents as a young man. And on September 11, 2001, Canter Fitzgerald lost hundreds of employees, including Mr. Lutnick's brother and best friend.
Some former employees said Mr. Lutnick will treat them like family and take them to Six Flags and the circus to buy popcorn and cotton candy. Others recalled that Mr. Lutnick left the office to have dinner with his family before returning to the meeting at 10pm.
Jimmy Dunn, vice-chairman of Piper Sandler, an investment bank that worked with Cantor, described Lutnick as “very intense and very harsh.”
“You're going to fight him or fight him. You're better off being pretty safe because he's going to test you,” Dan said. “He won't move away from the fight.”
Rutnick has a history of explaining himself to be a fiscal conservative and a social liberal, and supporting both Republicans and Democrats. But his strong support for Israel and conservative economics has upset him towards Trump.
An employee who had known Rutnick for a long time was surprised to hear him question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. In 2024, Rutnick was a major donor to Trump and later co-chaired his transition team. Mr. Lutnick became the Treasury Secretary, but was defeated by hedge fund manager Scott Bescent. Despite Trump working together to persuade him to suspend some of his tariffs, the hostility between the two men has not been mitigated.
The report was contributed by Lauren Hirsch, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swann, Maureen Farrell, Trip Mickle and Matina Stevis Gridneff. Kitty Bennett contributed to his research.
