All posts tagged "howard lutnick"

Lutnick accused of faking Kennedy Center ceiling collapse as critics spot damning detail

Online critics are accusing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick of posting a fake video of supposed pieces of the Kennedy Center ceiling collapsing.

Lutnick posted the video on his official X account as the Kennedy Center board voted to shut down for renovations. Lutnick, whose wife sits on the board, has previously called for closing the facility because its collapsing ceiling makes it "dangerous."

In his post, Lutnick wrote that the ceiling was "crashing violently" onto the center's main floor because of the "collapsing concrete" and "steel that is rotting." Just as President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday, Lutnick wrote that a security guard avoided the falling ceiling "by just minutes," adding that "patrons could have been killed."

However, critics quickly pointed out details in the video posted by Lutnick that cast doubt on the authenticity of the video and the legitimacy of Lutnick's demands for a Kennedy Center shutdown.

"Did you call in sick before it collapsed?" asked former FBI agent Phil Kennedy.

"Why was the yellow caution sign in the exact place where the ceiling fell in, before it fell in?" wondered Andrew Feinberg, a White House correspondent for The Independent.

"This is the most staged s— I've ever seen," wrote progressive political commentator Mike Nellis.

"Security cameras don't point low on to the ground," noted political consultant and journalist Adam Cochran. "The way that shatters looks more like a bad AI edit than a slow frame security camera."

Others simply tore into Lutnick and Trump's continued demand for the closure of the Kennedy Center and that it bear Trump's name.

"Yes, a worthy cause, practically a matter of national honor," national media writer Paul Farhi sarcastically commented. "Any president would surely want to pitch in and help raise the funds for this important institution, without demanding anything in return for so solemn a mission. Wouldn't you agree?"

Legal expert Adam Klasfeld pointed to Washington Post reporting from 1977 about plaster falling from the ceiling of Kennedy Center's Grand Foyer.

"Did then-President Jimmy Carter stack the Kennedy Center's Board to shut it down for (an estimated) two years and try to extort the courts to allow his surrogates to rededicate it as a $250M shrine to himself?" Klasfeld asked. "No, the Center went on with the show and fixed the damn ceiling."

'Shocking' Trump DOJ moves during Kennedy Center hearing flagged by lawyer

A lawyer involved in the hearings over President Donald Trump's effort to rename the Kennedy Center flagged a shocking moment by the Justice Department.

During a Thursday appearance on CNN, Nathaniel Zelinsky said it was "shocking" that DOJ lawyers insisted on sticking to a September deadline that they set themselves. Zelinsky is part of the legal counsel for Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board who is challenging the renaming.

The DOJ has said that it will refrain from putting Trump's name back on the Kennedy Center until September 8, but has been unclear about why. Zelinsky noted that Judge Christopher Cooper "was clear that he might issue a temporary restraining order to buy himself a little more time" to consider the case, but the DOJ stuck to its deadline, which is about two weeks away.

"What's shocking here is that the Department of Justice has said that they're going to stick by this artificial September deadline to put the name back on the Kennedy Center," Zelinsky said. "There's no reason to. September 8 is a made-up date."

The DOJ insisted that it has to put Trump's name back on the Kennedy Center by then, but the judge is asking the department, "Please, can you wait a little bit?" Zelinsky recounted. "And they said, 'No.'"

Zelinsky said he expects Cooper to respond by issuing an emergency order to force the DOJ to wait and give himself a little more time. Zelinsky also responded to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose wife is a trustee of the board, who said on Thursday that Trump needs to be "enticed" to fund renovations to the center.

"That's not what the law is," Zelinsky said. "The law is very clear. This is a memorial to John F. Kennedy. You can't sell a piece off. It can't be the Tesla Plaza. It can't be the Koch Memorial. It's the Kennedy Center, and so it doesn't matter if that's what the president wants to do."

Gretchen Carlson torches Trump's 'repugnant' Kennedy Center stunt: 'This is disrespectful'

A former Fox News anchor ripped into President Donald Trump's continued efforts to put his name on the Kennedy Center.

During a Thursday appearance on CNN, Gretchen Carlson said that Trump's insistence that his name appear on the Kennedy Center facade is tiring out the American public. Even though a federal judge rebuked his effort in May, the Trump-allied board moved to restore his name to the facade with an inscription crediting Trump with renovating and restoring the center, and Justice Department lawyers warned the center could be "required to be taken down" if the renovation and naming effort is blocked.

"This is disrespectful. This is repugnant," Carlson said. "The American people are completely tired of these shenanigans. He didn't build this."

She responded to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's impassioned argument for Trump's push to shut down the Kennedy Center. After a hearing, Lutnick exclaimed on Wednesday, "This building is dangerous" because of falling concrete, as he urged the center to close for renovations that were also blocked by a federal judge.

"First of all, sorry to say, Howard Lutnick is not telling the truth," Carlson said. "Donald Trump did not build this, and he's not going to tear it down because the American people will have an insurrection over that."

She added, "The American people, I'm sure, love the fact that Howard Lutnick says that during the week, all Trump does is talk about building stuff." However, she argued that Trump should be more concerned about more urgent problems and tore into his other vanity projects.

"We've got a war in Iran that is not solved," Carlson said. "He's now naming Lake Ontario Lake America. He's saying vandalism for the Reflecting Pool. He's not talking about the economy. I mean, the American people at some point are going to have to show the frustration that I am showing right now."

'Off the Richter scale': Presidential historian raises red flags about Trump mining deal

A presidential historian is sounding the alarm about a recent mining deal that's expected to enrich the Trump family.

"The audacity is so off the Richter scale," Douglas Brinkley said about a deal between the Trump administration and Kazakhstan to access one of the world's largest untapped reserves of tungsten.

The New York Times reported on the $1.6 billion tungsten mining deal with the Central Asian country. The Times noted that the sons of both Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stand to benefit. Tungsten is used in "missile warheads, fighter jets, computer chips, and other critical goods," the Times noted.

Brinkley reacted to details of the deal as reported by the NY Times during an appearance on The Jim Acosta Show on Tuesday.

"People aren't sure what's even going on," Brinkley said. "You have to hope the law will eventually hold President Trump accountable if he did some things that are illegal and illicit, but the law moves slowly."

Brinkley agreed with host Jim Acosta's assessment that Trump's self-enrichment during his second term is unprecedented.

"Just think, not that long ago, there was a scandal because Jimmy Carter's brother Billy had a beer, or you know, Neil Bush got involved with a bit of a hedge fund banking thing run a little bit amok," Brinkley said. "They're so small, and then this is such a huge wake-up call, people."

The way Brinkley sees it, "you're having a president of the United States using the White House for personal self-enrichment of a kind of mind-boggling audacity," adding that "it's a crisis, but we've got to get through it."

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Trump's trade chief drops massive national security warning in secret meeting: report

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned top executives that the United States was taking steps to respond to China's state-backed robotics industry, something viewed as a potential national security threat, Politico reported on Tuesday.

During the closed-door meeting on Monday, he told the business leaders that the Trump administration was studying state-subsidized robotics imports, three people who attended the meeting told Politico. The move comes amid concerns that "subsidized Chinese robots could dominate global markets before U.S. manufacturers have the scale to compete."

Dozens of executives from companies such as Boston Dynamics, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Siemens, SpaceX and Rockwell Automation were at the roundtable discussion, Politico reported. Some of the discussion included how the American industry could "reverse decades of manufacturing offshoring and rebuild the industrial base needed to build everything from semiconductors to robots."

It's a sign of the escalating robotics import race between China and the United States.

"Lutnick’s comments reflect a growing view inside the Trump administration that robotics — not just AI chips — is becoming the next battleground in the technological competition," according to Politico.

"We don’t want state-subsidized robotics attacking us in America; this is the arms [race] that is coming — robotic arms are coming," Lutnick said in the meeting, according to notes provided to Politico. "We need to make sure they’re produced in America so we’re going to study those right now."

CNN reporter balks at Trump's vulgar attack on cabinet member: 'My mother is watching'

One of President Donald Trump's attacks on his own cabinet secretary was so vulgar that a CNN reporter wouldn't read it aloud.

CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel was reading an excerpt from Regime Change, an upcoming book about the second Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. She had to stop, however, when getting to a part about what Trump said to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Trump told Lutnick, "You used to be a killer," according to a passage from the book that Gangel read on-air. "I remember when you were 35, you were a killer."

Gangel had to stop as she read a line where Trump told Lutnick, "Now, you're just soft, and you're a p—."

"I'm not going to say that on TV," Gangel said instead. "My mother is watching."

Trump said the expletive twice in the passage, and when it came up again, she told viewers, "You can look at it on TV."

Gangel read the passage to make a point about Trump's vulgarity, per the book. The others on the roundtable with her couldn't help but laugh as she stopped herself from explicitly echoing Trump's vulgarity.

Charles Blow, the author of "Blow the Stack" newsletter, told Gangel that she could have referred to the expletive by saying it's "the thing" that Trump "confessed he likes to grab people by."

'Ummm…': Trump's 'erratic' speech sparks concerns he's 'exceedingly unwell'

The internet fired off stunned reactions on Wednesday as President Donald Trump gave a meandering speech after the G7 Summit in France.

Trump spoke about the Iran agreement from Évian-les-Bains and talked for more than 40 minutes on a stage with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick standing behind him.

Political and media experts commented on the president's demeanor and claims.

"This is one of the most erratic press conferences I think I've ever seen from Trump. He sounds like he's got a rotten cold," Mikey Smith, deputy political editor for The Mirror, wrote on X.

"Even with the bronze plaster on his face, the president looks exceedingly unwell," former CIA case officer and political commentator, wrote on X.

"Ummm………….," political commentary account Spiro’s Ghost wrote on X.

"A few missiles never hurt anybody," Ron Filipkowski, MeidasTouch editor and attorney, wrote on X.

"This is the dumbest speech in the history of speeches. My 7th grade speech for class secretary was better," Georgetown University professor Anthony M. Hopper wrote on X.

"Sounds like Trump's personal 'Strait of Hormuz' just opened," former Metro editor at the Chicago Tribune Mark Jacob wrote on Bluesky.

"Heads up to the moms whose SNAP benefits just got cut," editor Amanda Katz, former Washington Post writer, posted on Bluesky.

This is one of the most erratic press conferences I think I've ever seen from Trump. He sounds like he's got a rotten cold. https://t.co/CWF2i1FlB6
— Mikey Smith (@mikeysmith) June 17, 2026

Trump's top Manhattan prosecutor unnerves legal experts with his cable TV habit

The top Manhattan prosecutor in Trump's Department of Justice is alarming legal experts with his behavior.

During a recent interview, Adam Klasfeld raised red flags over Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, because of his constant appearances on CNBC. Clayton "sowed doubt" over the California elections, but that wasn't all the stunned Klasfeld, who's been a court reporter for the past two decades.

"I have never seen a U.S. attorney engage in political commentary on cable, period," Klasfeld said. "And he is now a regular fixture, Jay Clayton, on Squawk Box on CNBC, where he spouts off pro-Trump talking points regularly."

In addition to bringing up unfounded fraud concerns around the California elections, Clayton has also talked about how Trump was wronged in criminal prosecutions against him, defended the $1.776 billion slush fund, and engaged in "soft election denialism," Klasfeld said.

Michael Popok, a former prosecutor and the host of Legal AF, added to Klasfeld's observations. Popok noted that Clayton "is a very close friend and always has been with Howard Lutnick," Trump's commerce secretary, who's been questioned about his ties to Epstein.

Clayton is also a "golfing buddy" with Lutnick and Trump, according to Popok, adding that his purpose is to make the Southern District of New York look good under Trump.

"When you see him on television, he looks like he's from central casting," Popok said about Clayton. "His sole purpose is to give a veneer of credibility, and to restore some credibility to that office while continuing to be a political hatchet man."

THE POPOK POP-UP: BREAKING NEWS AND ADAM KLASFELD, TOO! by Legal AF

A recording from Legal AF's live video

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Former U.S. attorney hands Dems what they need to corner Lutnick on Epstein

Democrats hoping to get Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to come clean about his personal and financial friendship with convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein got a helping hand from former US Attorney Joyce Vance.

Appearing on MS NOW with host Erielle Reshef on Thursday, Vance was asked about the pursuit of truth from Lutnick by Democrats that has been stifled by the Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress.

“Lutnick now says that he was only speculating when he suggested that Epstein blackmailed people,” Reshef prompted her guest. “What did you make of that part of his testimony, and how does that fit into the larger investigation here?”

“Well, let me put my prosecutor hat on, my former prosecutor hat on, and talk about how I would deal with a witness like Lutnick during a criminal investigation, which I think is a pretty good approach here,” Vance began. “When someone tells multiple inconsistent stories, you sit them down, hopefully just during an interview, but if necessary, under oath in front of a grand jury, and you get them to explain the lie. People don't lie for no reason. You know, here there are a lot of plausible excuses. Lutnick could have just been trying to avoid embarrassment telling convenient stories, and this would have been an appropriate opportunity for him to say that — to say that he was trying to soften it. He never did anything wrong, but he now is embarrassed.”

“In hindsight, the fact that that wasn't the testimony I think is telling,” she cautioned. “And the reality is that because this is happening in a formal oversight hearing setting where you don't get that sort of a grilling, that one gets in a prosecutorial setting, he's never been confronted squarely and forced to concede the lie.”

“I think that there's still more miles to go with Mr. Lutnick,” she suggested. “This is in many ways unsatisfying testimony. As you say, there's no insinuation that he committed crimes, but he appears to be part of this larger cover-up that permitted Epstein to continue to operate unchallenged.”

She then added, “The final telling point about Lutnick is that the relationship continues after Epstein's conviction in Florida — after he's a registered sex offender — he's still, you know, it's not just a lunch that he attends on Epstein's island. He puts his family in a boat to get there. So I think all in all, this is very telling that this is not the final act here.”

- YouTube youtu.be

Lutnick 'visibly upset' after being asked if 'creepy' Epstein mask resembled him: report

A Trump Cabinet member reportedly became upset when he was asked why he looks like one of the creepy masks found in the home of disgraced financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.

"In closed door interview today, Howard Lutnick was asked about the infamous creepy mask room in Jeffrey Epstein's house," wrote congressional reporter Stephen Neukam, citing a source familiar with the interview, in an X post on Wednesday.

The questions about the mask came as new details emerged about Lutnick's ties to Epstein during a closed-door hearing with the House Oversight Committee.

The mask room was featured in a photo that was included in the trove of documents released by a congressional committee in December. It's located in Epstein's house on his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and contains about a dozen masks hanging on a wall around a dentist's chair, Hyperallergic reported in December, noting at the time that "none" of the masks were "immediately recognizable."

One of the masks does strike a clear resemblance to Lutnick, though, based on a photo of the room that was passed out as an exhibit. It has his small beard and bald head, and the eyes, brows, and nose also seem to match Lutnick's features.

"Lutnick was asked specifically whether one of the faces (particularly the one with the beard) was his face," Neukam wrote. "Lutnick, the source said, was visibly upset by the question. He said he didn't have a beard until after Epstein died."