Howard Lutnick, the pro-Israel advocate who leads Trump’s transition team

In recent months, Howard Lutnick, the billionaire financial executive, has emerged as one of former President Donald Trump’s top supporters and closest advisers. He helped marshal the support of Wall Street donors, appeared frequently on cable news to promote the campaign and gained a leading role on the transition team, where he served as co-chairman in charge of staffing for a possible second Trump administration.

However, his increased public visibility came with some high-profile missteps. The chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company in New York City, recently came under scrutiny in a widely criticized CNN interview for his comments expressing doubts about vaccines. Meanwhile, his outsized media presence has reportedly angered some Trump allies who fear his open discussions about the transition process were preemptive before the election ends this week.

Lutnick, 63, maintained a lower political profile before the election, making contributions to both parties. He has cited a number of reasons why he is more actively supporting Trump, a longtime friend, including his immigration policies, cryptocurrency and tariffs on imported goods – an unusual preference for a Wall Street veteran who has identified as a fiscal conservative.

But the Jewish Republican has also suggested that his longstanding commitment to Israel’s security is one of the main reasons he is now so enthusiastically allying with Trump, particularly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, which the former president has repeatedly claimed that they would “never” support Trump would have happened” if he had won a second term.

Lutnick said his decision to become more involved in Trump’s re-election became clear immediately after the attacks. “He had a clear, moral clarity when it came to Israel and what happened and the way he thought about what happened,” Lutnick explained in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer last month. “That was huge for me.”

The Hamas-led massacre appears to have had a profound impact on Lutnick and his wife Allison, who traveled to Israel to meet with victims of last year’s attacks in southern Israel.

While Lutnick donated to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2016 Senate campaign, he attributed the donation to his wife, noting that she has since “switched to Donald Trump – which is unusual for her because she says Israel is her number one policy.” “. he said in an interview with Bloomberg this summer.

The former president “literally sat down with my wife and said, ‘I’m going to be the best president for Israel, I’m going to protect Israel and take care of them,'” Lutnick recounted, “so even in my house we had unanimity on that Have Donald Trump.” .”

Lutnick, whose company lost 658 employees in the World Trade Center attacks, including his brother Gary, has linked Israel’s fight to a broader fight against global terrorism.

The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund — created after the Sept. 11 attacks — has helped raise money for Israel in its fight against Hamas in Gaza. “Hamas is terrorism and we are here to help Israel,” the fund said in a statement after Oct. 7, pledging to match “every dollar” up to $1 million.

Recently, Lutnick announced that the fund donated $7 million “to support those affected by the war in Israel,” a portion of which went directly to United Hatzalah, the Israeli emergency services nonprofit he and his wife have founded support for a long time.

“Cantor Fitzgerald has proven that you can rebuild from the worst of circumstances,” Lutnick said last June at United Hatzalah’s New York gala, where he and his wife served as co-chairs and helped attract more than 20 to raise millions of US dollars. “Israel will rebuild and be stronger. In 15 years Israel will be the shining star of the world.”

The Lutnicks have also donated more than $1 million to Birthright Israel, according to a list of top donors.

Amid the rise of anti-Semitic protests on college campuses last spring, Israel was reportedly a central topic of discussion at a Trump fundraiser Lutnick hosted in New York City, where he helped raise $10 million for the former president struggled to keep up with Harris’ impressive war chest.

A spokesman for Lutnick confirmed this Jewish Insider that Israel is among the main concerns of his active support for Trump, but declined multiple requests for an interview and answers to written questions about his involvement in the campaign.

Lutnick’s commitment to Jewish causes occasionally overlaps with his volunteer work for Trump, which takes up a significant amount of his time.

Last month, for example, Lutnick was among a handful of Trump insiders who accompanied the former president on his October 7 visit to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s grave in Queens, New York – where he prayed for the release of the Gaza hostages.

According to a person familiar with the situation, Lutnick’s team reached out to Chabad after the visit. “They seemed to be thinking about his public image,” the person told JI, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a private matter.

Unlike his transition team co-chair, GOP donor and businesswoman Linda McMahon, who handles policy, Lutnick has taken on an increasingly public profile since being hired in August to help staff a second term , if Trump wins the election.

The financier appears to be enjoying his time in the spotlight, which included a high-profile speech at Trump’s controversial Madison Square Garden rally in late October. “It wasn’t on my wish list. People like me aren’t allowed to play at Madison Square Garden. This place rocks!” Lutnick was enthusiastic in his remarks about the attacks on the World Trade Center. “We must elect Donald Trump because we must crush jihad!” he declared.

But Lutnick’s numerous media appearances in recent weeks have at times raised eyebrows – most notably during a recent CNN interview in which he questioned widely debunked claims about vaccine safety and referenced a lengthy conversation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , the former presidential candidate, is now honorary co-chair of Trump’s transition team.

Lutnick, who faced major backlash for his comments, later clarified on social media that he and his wife “trusted our doctors and followed their advice and vaccinated our children and ourselves.”

Some Trump advisers thought the negative coverage so close to the election was an unforced error The bulwarkMarc Caputo – who cited several anonymous campaign sources who, among other things, criticized the CNN appearance.

However, the Trump campaign expressed satisfaction with Lutnick in a statement shared with JI last week. “As President Trump’s broad coalition of supporters and advocates grows, we are proud that business leaders like Howard Lutnick are actively working to elect President Donald J. Trump, whose agenda of cutting costs, securing the border and reducing violent crime “Stop is resonating with Americans of all backgrounds,” said Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign.

“As Kamala Harris reaffirms her ‘values’ by opening our border to criminal migrants, implementing Venezuela-style price controls and prioritizing anti-Semitic mobs over Israel, we look forward to expanding President Trump’s ‘big tent campaign’ with strong voices on the team.” as we work to restore America’s greatness,” Hughes added.

As he puts together shortlists to fill thousands of political vacancies in anticipation of Trump’s return to the White House, Lutnick has stressed that he is looking for loyalists who will not interfere with the former president’s “America First” policies. He has also distanced the campaign from Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s controversial blueprint for a second term that Harris has frequently described as a threat to democracy.

Lutnick, who helped rebuild Cantor Fitzgerald after the Sept. 11 attacks, has reportedly sought private advice from a number of people in his new position, including Elon Musk, who has called for dramatic cuts in government spending; Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management; and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser who was not actively involved in the campaign.

Lutnick, for his part, has dismissed rumors that he is interested in being named ambassador to Israel – although, as he admits, his support for the Jewish state has played a major role in increasing his involvement in Trump’s re-election efforts.

Two sources familiar with the matter said Trump’s team was not focused on naming an Israeli ambassador as the election draws to a close. “This is just media talk,” a Trump confidant told JI. “Trump doesn’t think like that. It’s all about Pennsylvania and Michigan.”

Nevertheless, Lutnick has indicated that he would be open to a Cabinet position – such as head of the Treasury Department. “If he wanted to include me in the mosaic, he would have to use me,” Lutnick said of Trump in an interview with the US government Financial Times last month. “I’m not putting myself in it.”