Since Howard Lutnick was appointed as President Trump’s commerce secretary, leaders from some of the largest firms worldwide have been trying to gain his favor.
Executives from companies like Nvidia, Facebook, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and Alphabet have visited his newly acquired $25 million mansion in Washington — a grand 16,250-square-foot estate that Mr. Lutnick, a billionaire, humorously mentioned would be “ample for my ego” — aiming to sway him towards a business-friendly strategy.
As President Trump tightened tariffs to unprecedented levels, companies such as Ford Motor and General Motors, which rely heavily on global trade, reached out to Mr. Lutnick, hoping he could influence the president’s approach to be less confrontational. Some CEOs even contacted him at midnight.
At 63 years old, Mr. Lutnick leads a department responsible for both promoting and regulating industry, with the added responsibility of overseeing trade. This places him in a powerful position as a mediator between a president implementing extensive tariffs and the industries suffering from them.
Mr. Lutnick, a former bond trader who accumulated billions on Wall Street, has emerged as a strong advocate for tariffs within a largely supportive administration. He has echoed the president’s justification that high tariffs are necessary to revitalize U.S. industry, suggesting that companies unhappy with them should invest in U.S. manufacturing.
However, in private discussions, he has often advocated for a more tempered stance. He recommended that Mr. Trump pause his global tariffs for 90 days after they triggered turmoil in the stock and bond markets. Moreover, he’s lobbied the president to provide relief to specific industries, assisting them in winning exemptions from hefty tariffs.
After the major U.S. automotive firms expressed concerns that tariffs on Canada and Mexico could undermine the competitiveness of U.S. auto plants, Mr. Lutnick lobbied the president successfully for a significant exemption in March.
In April, he played a role in securing exceptions that spared electronics firms from steep tariffs on China, prompted by calls from executives like Tim Cook of Apple and Michael Dell of Dell Technologies.
Mr. Trump appears to regret these exemptions. He has expressed to associates that they were not his original intention and stated on Truth Social in April that “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook,’” asserting that electronics will face further tariffs in the future.
Businesses are feeling quite confused about the direction of trade policy but are more determined than ever to advocate for valuable exemptions.
Mr. Lutnick did not respond to a request for an interview. A representative for the Commerce Department declined to provide a comment. The New York Times spoke with over thirty corporate executives and current and former employees of the Commerce Department, the White House, Mr. Lutnick’s previous firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, and others.
While Mr. Lutnick is not always aligned with industry interests, he frequently employs the threat of tariffs as a tactic to motivate businesses to increase their investments in the U.S.
For instance, he has paused financial disbursements to companies involved in the CHIPS program, a bipartisan and multi-billion-dollar initiative to rebuild America’s semiconductor industry. He pressured certain executives to boost their U.S. investments if they wish to receive those funds, despite existing agreements for those payments, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.
He has also led companies to believe that they could receive tariff relief by escalating their U.S. investments, even discussing holding tariff payments in escrow, with plans to return the money if they invest domestically. Firms such as Apple, TSMC, and Nvidia have announced new projects since Mr. Trump started hinting at tariffs.
As a former investment banker, Mr. Lutnick seems particularly keen on innovative methods to bolster government finances. He has supported Mr. Trump’s idea of selling citizenship to wealthy foreigners via a “gold card” and proposed that the government take a percentage from patents and technological innovations.
Mr. Lutnick has suggested renaming the Department of the Interior as “the Department of American Assets” and using tariff revenue to fund a new sovereign wealth fund. He’s also actively discussed creating a “investment accelerator” that aims to reduce bureaucratic hurdles for investors.
Supporters of Mr. Lutnick claim he offers innovative ideas that are much needed in Washington. However, many executives and foreign officials have labeled some of his proposals as eccentric or detrimental, and they often leave discussions feeling quite unsettled, according to several individuals familiar with these interactions.
Despite overseeing a large government agency, Mr. Lutnick is looking to broaden his influence even further.
He has been making moves to gain control over the customs service to realize Mr. Trump’s vision of an “External Revenue Service” — which would collect import duties. Mr. Lutnick has also shown interest in gaining authority over the U.S. Postal Service. After Mr. Trump allocated him “a whole 24 hours,” as Mr. Lutnick put it, to devise a solution to the post office’s financial troubles, Mr. Lutnick proposed merging it with the Commerce Department and utilizing mail carriers for the national census.
As a key adviser to the president, Mr. Lutnick has contributed to amplifying Mr. Trump’s instincts and desires. After Mr. Trump raised concerns about the U.S. losing influence over the Panama Canal, Mr. Lutnick arranged for a friend to set up two iPhones to capture video of ship movements through the canal, a scenario he shared with an audience at a conference in Washington in March. He shared these videos with Mr. Trump, and they both noted their concerns about the amount of Chinese writing on the ships and containers. “The Panamanians had sold out,” he remarked.
Many of Mr. Lutnick’s favored ideas seem to extend beyond the usual scope of the Commerce Department, a large agency with around 50,000 employees that oversees various sectors including business, weather, fisheries, artificial intelligence, and commercial space endeavors.
Within the department, staff members report a decline in morale, as the administration has increased workloads and cut hundreds of positions.
Scientists dedicated to enhancing the United States’ global competitiveness — a goal of the Trump administration — are feeling directionless.
Several Commerce Department staff mentioned that Mr. Lutnick, unlike previous secretaries, didn’t send out a welcome email or address, resulting in employees not knowing his email or seeing him in person for a month after his confirmation. Mr. Lutnick indicated that he intended to spend most of his time at the White House.
