Howard Lutnick Blamed For Trump’s Tariff Chaos

Howard Lutnick may have the president’s ear, but some in the administration and around Donald Trump are coming for his head.

The Commerce Secretary and former Cantor Fitzgerald head is bearing the blame for the tariff situation embroiling the nation, Politico reported. Lutnick is drawing increasing frustration from administration officials and Trump allies alike due to his close proximity with the president and economic counsel.

Lutnick hasn’t helped matters by seemingly overstepping on a number of occasions, sometimes contradicting the White House’s planned messaging. For instance, Lutnick said on “Meet the Press” that Americans should “absolutely not” brace for a recession, even though a taped interview where Trump refused to rule out the potential of a recession was about to air.

He also hinted on CNBC about a potential pause in tariffs for Canada and Mexico while the administration was still negotiating with the countries.

“He’s trying to be a mini-Trump. I don’t think he got the memo that only Trump gets to be Trump,” an administration source told Politico. “It just reinforces that he doesn’t really know how to do the job.”

A White House spokesperson defended Lutnick as “an integral addition to the Trump administration’s trade and economic team,” pointing to the February jobs report as a feather in his cap. Lutnick did not comment.

It’s unclear if Trump is feeling the same frustration towards Lutnick that his allies are, given that the latter joined the president on Air Force One over the weekend.

But it wasn’t long ago when Lutnick fell out of favor with others in Trump’s orbit during the transition, which Lutnick co-chaired. His control of the information flow to the president-elect reportedly dampened his chances to be Treasury Secretary.

The Dow fell substantially on both Monday and Tuesday as economic uncertainty ruled, along with a switch regarding tariffs on Canadian goods being flipped on and off at a nauseating pace. Lutnick helped negotiate a deal with Ontario Premier Doug Ford to suspend a threatened tariff on energy exports.

— Holden Walter-Warner