A new report in Politico claims that one of President Donald Trump's closest confidants, Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, is considered a pariah among MAGA supporters who "are openly trash talking him to the boss, hoping he gets canned."
Reporters Rachael Bade and Megan Messerly wrote, "talk to almost any Trump ally outside the White House and you’ll hear scant praise for the Commerce secretary. He’s brash and impulsive, catering to Trump’s worst instincts on tariffs that could jeopardize the economy, they whisper. His loud mouth is equally matched by his bad judgment, they steam."
But the complaints amount to little more than "wishful thinking," the report said, due to Lutnick's unusually close relationship with the president. Lutnick, himself, has referred to the 30-year friendship with Trump as his "superpower."
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In essence, Lutnick is protected by a shield of loyalty to Trump, even after a debacle like the "chaotic rollout of the president’s 'Liberation Day' tariff policies that might have doomed any other Commerce secretary," the reporters wrote.
The ride or die relationship between the two New York billionaires revolves around "the two things Trump arguably values most: loyalty and money," the report said.
"When Trump turned into a pariah after Jan. 6, 2021, Lutnick still flew down to golf with him in Palm Beach," the report said. "During rocky parts of the 2024 campaign, people close to Trump say Lutnick 'stuck by the president' even on the grimmest days. Not to mention, he’s one of Trump’s biggest donors. He donated more than $10 million to Trump’s re-election, raising an additional $75 million for him by leaning on his Wall Street connections."
Lutnick's critics describe him as the worst kind of sycophant: "a sounding board who won’t curb [Trump's] most reckless instincts" who "marches into the Oval Office and tells Trump whatever he wants to hear rather than providing an accurate accounting of possible blowback," the report said.
However, "For all the kvetching among others close to Trump, Lutnick is the one who has a regular ice cream date with the president," which doesn't look like it will end anytime soon, the report concluded.
Read the Politico article here.