Trump's Wall Street middleman taps network for potential administration roles

Newmark

23/08/2024 14:14

By Lananh Nguyen
       NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The co-chair of U.S.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's freshly minted
transition team has begun tapping his network from a career on
Wall Street to build a roster of thousands of candidates to
serve in a potential administration.
    “I want to support President Trump and assist him in finding
the greatest talent, the greatest athletes to put on the field,
to create a wonderful, first-class administration,” said Cantor
Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, who co-chairs the team with
wrestling magnate Linda McMahon.
    Its leaders, who are both major donors to Trump's campaign,
are recruiting potential staffers, while the campaign handles
strategy and policy matters in the run-up to the election.
    Trump and Lutnick's relationship spans decades. After 658
Cantor employees died in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Trump
offered support to Lutnick as the CEO rebuilt the firm by hiring
thousands of people.
    Now, Lutnick is fielding calls from contacts he has made at
the helm of Cantor, which arranges deals in sectors including
energy, technology and healthcare. He also runs brokerage BGC
Group and is chairman of Newmark Group, a commercial real estate
services firm, and FMX, a platform owned by some of Wall
Street's biggest banks and traders.
    Lutnick's selection is a nod to the business community from
which Trump hired executives for his first administration,
including former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin.
    Trump's staffing has been the subject of intense speculation
after conservative group Project 2025 floated a controversial
agenda that recommends vast changes throughout the federal
government. Trump has since disavowed the group's ideas.
    A second Trump White House would likely seek to loosen
financial regulations, while a potential Democratic
administration led by Vice President Kamala Harris would
probably pursue tougher financial rules.

 (Reporting by Lananh Nguyen in New York, editing by Michelle
Price and Chizu Nomiyama)
 ((Lananh.Nguyen@thomsonreuters.com; +1 (646) 696 4829;))