当选总统唐纳德·特朗普周二宣布，他已选择康托·菲茨杰拉德公司首席执行官霍华德·鲁特尼克担任商务部部长。
这个角色需要参议院的批准。
领导这家投资银行的鲁特尼克一直与特朗普的前小企业管理员琳达·麦克马洪(Linda McMahon)一起担任特朗普过渡团队的联合主席。
“谢谢你，特朗普总统，感谢你对我的信任，让我帮助美国再次变得伟大。作为下一任商务部长，我将加入美国有史以来最好的政府，并释放我们的全部经济潜力，”Lutnick在声明发布后在他的X账户上写道。
消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，过去两周，两人一直在他在Mar-a-Lago设立的特朗普过渡作战室为特朗普政府官员推荐和审查潜在候选人。
鲁特尼克经常参加特朗普的竞选活动，并与一些主要的共和党捐款人如约翰·保尔森、杜克布坎和伍迪约翰逊一起为特朗普举办了多次筹款活动。
消息人士称，这位亿万富翁商人也在争夺财政部部长的职位，与投资者兼对冲基金经理斯科特·贝森特竞争，后者也被认为是该职位的最大竞争者。
消息人士称，鲁特尼克积极推动特朗普担任财政部长，这让一些接近特朗普的人感到沮丧。消息人士补充说，作为过渡团队的联合负责人，鲁特尼克几乎每天都要花数小时与当选总统在一起。
当被问及鲁特尼克获得财政部职位的努力是否适得其反时，特朗普即将上任的负责立法、政治和公共事务的副幕僚长詹姆斯·布莱尔周一拒绝置评。
布莱尔说:“我不认为我会对总统目前的人事考虑发表评论，我认为重要的是总统做出了伟大的选择。”。
埃隆·马斯克是鲁特尼克的亲密盟友，公开支持他担任财政部长。两人经常一起出现在活动中，包括美国第一政策研究所晚会上周在佛罗里达的Mar-a-Lago。
小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪支持Lutnick财政部的工作也是。
鲁特尼克在2017年向特朗普的就职委员会捐赠了100万美元，最近又向支持特朗普的超级政治行动委员会(super PAC)捐赠了500万美元，让美国再次伟大。
作为特朗普竞选集会的演讲嘉宾，鲁特尼克经常谈到他在9/11事件中失去数百名员工和兄弟的经历。
鲁特尼克一直是加密货币的倡导者，今年早些时候在纳什维尔举行的年度比特币大会上发言，特朗普和小罗伯特也在会上发言。加密货币公司Tether是Cantor Fitzgerald的客户之一。
Trump picks Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary job
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that he has picked Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as his secretary of the Department of Commerce.
The role requires Senate confirmation.
Lutnick, who leads the investment bank, has been serving as co-chair of the Trump transition team alongside Trump's former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon.
"Thank you, President Trump for your trust in me to help Make America Great Again. As the next Secretary of Commerce, I will join the best administration the US has ever seen and unleash our full economic potential," Lutnick wrote on his X account following the announcement.
The two have spent the past two weeks at the Trump transition war room he has set up at Mar-a-Lago recommending and vetting potential candidates for Trump's administration officials, sources told ABC News.
Lutnick has frequently joined Trump on the campaign trail and hosted numerous fundraisers for Trump alongside some of the major Republican donors such as John Paulson, Duke Buchan and Woody Johnson.
The billionaire businessman was also vying for the job of secretary of the Department of the Treasury, sources said, competing against investor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, who had also been considered as a top contender for the role.
Lutnick's aggressive push to be tapped as Trump's Treasury secretary had frustrated some close to Trump, sources said. Lutnick spent hours with the president-elect nearly every day as a co-head of the transition team, sources added.
Asked if Lutnick's efforts to get the Treasure job backfired on him, Trump's incoming Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs James Blair declined to comment on Monday.
"I don't think I'll comment on, on the president's considerations right now for personnel, I think what's important is that the president is making great picks," Blair said.
Elon Musk has been a close ally of Lutnick,publicly endorsing him for the Treasury secretary job. The two are often seen together at events -- including at theAmerica First Policy Institute Galaat Mar-a-Lago in Florida last week.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.endorsed Lutnickfor the Treasury job, too.
Lutnick had donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee in 2017 and most recently donated $5 million to pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc.
As a guest speaker at Trump campaign rallies, Lutnick frequently spoke about his experience of losing hundreds of employees as well as his brother on 9/11.
Lutnick has been a vocal advocate for cryptocurrency, speaking at the annual Bitcoin Conference in Nashville earlier this year where Trump and Robert Jr. also spoke. Cryptocurrency company Tether is among Cantor Fitzgerald's clients.
