On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce his nomination for Secretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick.
Lutnick is the chair and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and is also currently serving as co-chair of the Trump transition. He has notably publicly embraced Trump’s tariff plans, which will be a major part of the job leading Commerce.
The CEO was considered a front-runner to serve as Trump’s Treasury secretary along with Scott Bessent, who served as economic adviser on the Trump campaign.
Trump just released a statement:
I am thrilled to announce that Howard Lutnick, Chairman & CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will join my Administration as the United States Secretary of Commerce. He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
In his role as Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team, Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest Administration America has ever seen.
Lutnick beat out Linda McMahon for the role leading Commerce who was considered a front runner and previously led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term.
McMahon is also a co-chair of his transition effort.
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[Photo Cred: Office of the President of the United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]
Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro recently made some potentially damaging accusations about Jared Kushner, former President Trump’s son-in-law and longtime White House adviser.
As reported by Mediaite, Navarro recently bashed Kushner about his portrayal of several dramatic actions he allegedly took while working at the White House.
“Appearing on Newsmax, Navarro addressed Kushner’s claim in his recently-published book that he was treated for thyroid cancer while serving in the White House.
Host Chris Salcedo flagged the excerpt from the book and stated Kushner “withheld a cancer diagnosis during tense negotiations with communist China.
Navarro addressed Kushner’s book.
“It’s fiction,” he continued. “And the thyroid thing, that came out of nowhere. I saw the guy every day. There’s no sign that he was in any pain or danger or whatever. I think it’s just sympathy to try to sell his book now.”
Salcedo asked if Kushner is “worthy” of Trump’s trust.
“No,” Navarro replied. “Time after time, whether it’s mismanagement of the campaign, mismanagement of the pandemic, taking too much credit for NAFTA, taking too much credit for the Abraham Accords. I mean, the guy was just a one-man wrecking crew, 36 years old I think when he got in there with no training. His only qualification was that he was the boss’s son-in-law.”
Notably, Navarro is dealing with a few of his own issues at the moment. A few days ago he was sued by President Biden’s Justice Department for refusing to hand over emails from his personal accounts which were used to conduct official White House business. Earlier this summer, he was criminally charged for ignoring a subpoena from the Jan. 6 Committee.
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood said she would vote for former President Trump over President Biden in the November presidential election.
Wood took part in an interview with ‘Meet Kevin’ financial analyst and YouTuber Kevin Paffrath, during which she was asked the popular question, “Trump or Biden?”
Wood told the host she has three children with whom she has discussed the upcoming election and its consequences.
“As I’ve said to them, ‘Look, I am going to vote for the person who’s going to do the best job for our economy,’” Wood told Paffrath. “I am a voter when it comes to economics, and on that basis, Trump.”
She further explained that Laffer Associates founder and chairman Art Laffer “describes the first three years of the Trump presidency as the best in U.S. economic history, not the last one because of COVID, and I would agree.”
Watch:
🔥🔥Cathie Wood Ark investor and one of the most influential people in the business world just publicly announced that she'll be voting for Trump and that he had the best economy in history.
Dont vote based off personal feelings. Vote based off personal experience.
Mr. Mellon is now the first donor to give $100 million in disclosed federal contributions in this year’s election. He was already the single largest contributor to super PACs supporting both Mr. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent. Mr. Mellon has previously given $25 million to both.
Billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, announced last month he will back Trump in the 2024 race after he previously called for the Republican Party to turn to a “new generation of leaders.”
The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Donald Trump’s last Republican rival has landed a fresh new job.
Nikki Haley the former two-term South Carolina governor who served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, is joining the Washington, D.C.-based Hudson Institute.
“Nikki is a proven, effective leader on both foreign and domestic policy,” Hudson President and CEO John P. Walters said in a statement Monday. “In an era of worldwide political upheaval, she has remained a steadfast defender of freedom and an effective advocate for American security and prosperity. We are honored to have her join the Hudson team.”
Haley, who received the Hudson Institute’s global leadership award in 2018 during her tenure as U.N. ambassador, will serve as the institute’s Walter P. Stern Chair. According to the Hudson Institute, the position was created four years ago to commemorate a former chair “who was instrumental in making Hudson one of Washington’s most respected research organizations.”
The institute emphasized that “it is fitting that Nikki has taken on this title” because “she is a courageous and insightful policymaker.”
Haley announced that she was suspending her White House campaign on March 6, the day Trump swept 14 of 15 GOP nominating contests on Super Tuesday.
To date, Haley has declined to endorse Trump.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” Haley said last month, as she pointed to those who supported her during her White House run.
“This is now his time for choosing,” she emphasized.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]
On a bustling Thursday night in San Francisco, former President Donald Trump marked another impressive milestone in his 2024 presidential campaign. The presumptive Republican nominee and front-runner, according to the polls, celebrated a monumental $12 million fundraising haul. The fundraising event, hosted by prominent Silicon Valley figures, David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, highlighted the undeniable shift in the tech industry, an arena traditionally dominated by liberal ideologies.
“These are brilliant guys – AI guys – these are the guys that are doing all the things you read about,” Trump gushed to Fox News Digital. These are just a brilliant group of people. And they can’t relate to Biden because he is a stupid person – and I have a high IQ.”
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“They don’t like dealing with an IQ that’s like, you know, 1/3 of theirs, because it is a difficult thing when someone has an IQ of 180, it is difficult to deal with a man with an IQ of 70 – or maybe lower,” Trump added, attempting to goad the current president.
Sacks endorsed Trump hours before the high-dollar fundraiser at his multimillion-dollar home, located near the residence of Nancy and Paul Pelosi, symbolizing the growing willingness of certain tech industry leaders to publicly support Trump, a stance that previously rendered individuals persona non grata in Silicon Valley. (RELATED: San Francisco Sued Over Gender Scheme Targeting Minority Men)
Known for his business acumen and successful investments, including his status as an angel investor for Facebook, Uber, SpaceX, and Airbnb, Sachs’ support signals a broader acceptance of Trump’s candidacy within a traditionally GOP skeptical community.
Trump told Fox News Digital that Sacks’ “strong” endorsement “is a great testament to what I’ve accomplished.”
“David Sacks — the king of that world — David Sacks and the group that we were with are the most respected people in San Francisco from both a business and high tech standpoint,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “They love our country and they understand what’s happening into the future with technology better than any group, anywhere in the world.”
“One of the primary reasons for the endorsement was the four years that we had in office, which was the best four years ever for high tech, which will play an increasingly important role in the future of our country, especially as it relates to AI and all of the other new and brilliant technologies coming right at this moment,” Trump said. “It is a very exciting time and it is a great honor to have the most brilliant minds supporting, by far, the most brilliant leader.”
Why I’m Backing President Trump
As many press accounts have reported, I’m hosting a fundraising event for President Donald J. Trump at my home in San Francisco this evening.
Over the last couple of years, I have hosted events for presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Vivek…
“My reasons rest on four main issues that I think are vital to American prosperity, security and stability — issues where the Biden administration has veered badly off course and where I believe President Trump can lead us back,” Sacks said Thursday.
Other guests at Sacks’ Pacific Heights fundraiser included the Winklevoss twins, who successfully sued Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their idea, which later became Facebook.
JD Lasica from Pleasanton, CA, US, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“He wasn’t the guy I see on TV,” one source told the New York Post. “He was very thoughtful and self-deprecating.” More than 100 guest attended the San Francisco soirée, paying as much as $300,000 a head.
Historically, Silicon Valley has been a bastion of liberal politics, with many tech leaders supporting Democratic candidates and policies. This alignment was driven by shared values around social issues and environmental sustainability. (RELATED: Google Shuts Down Its AI Chatbot ‘Gemini’ For Being Woke And Racist)
However, the dynamics may be changing. The industry’s rapid growth has brought increased scrutiny and regulatory pressures from Democratic lawmakers. Concerns over antitrust actions, data privacy regulations and labor practices have strained relationships between tech giants and the Democratic Party.
In contrast, Trump’s deregulatory stance, pro-business policies and tax reforms align with the interests of a growing number of Silicon Valley insiders.
Kevin O’Leary, co-host of the TV show “Shark Tank” and a successful investor in his own right, stated in a Monday interview with Fox News host Neil Cavuto that he will never invest in New York after a judge ordered Donald Trump to pay over $350 million in penalties in a civil fraud case.
“I’m not different than any other investor. I’m shocked at this. I can’t even understand or fathom the decision at all. There’s no rationale for it,” O’Leary told Cavuto.
🚨NEW: Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary condemns AG Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron's corrupt and baseless ruling against Donald Trump.
🔥🔥🔥
"I would NEVER invest in New York now! And I'm not the only one saying that!"
In his New York fraud case, Trump was ordered by Judge Arthur Engoron to pay more than $350 million, and the former president was also barred from doing business in New York for three years. Trump was accused of fraud through past valuations of his properties that were inflated and used to get more beneficial agreements in a civil lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
O’Leary called Trump’s actions a victimless crime and said other companies are now going to be even more fearful to conduct business in New York, which the Canadian-born O’Leary called a “loser state.”
“It doesn’t matter what the governor says, New York was already a loser state. Like California‘s a loser state. There are many loser states because of policy, high taxes, uncompetitive regulation, it was already on the top of the list of being a loser state. I would never invest in New York now, and I’m not the only person saying that,” he said.
O’Leary, long a vocal critic of New York’s policies for business, described running into massive amounts of red tape while trying to set up a “high end data center” in New York and he’s now abandoning the state for “winner states,” like the Oklahoma, North Dakota, and West Virginia.
“The fine people of New York should ask themselves, why are we such a loser state? How are we going attract business?” O’Leary continued. “It’s not just the existing businesses that are fleeing out to Texas and Florida. What about new money like what I’m talking about?”
“This is a New York problem now,” the businessman, investor and philanthropist concluded.
This article originally appeared on American Liberty News. Republished with permission.
Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Ackerman said former President Trump is “toast” in his New York civil fraud case.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case accuses Trump, his two adult sons, the Trump Organization, and top executives of falsely inflating the values of Trump’s real estate properties and other assets in order to get tax benefits and better loan terms.
James seeks around $250 million in damages, and she wants to bar Trump and his co-defendants from running another business in New York.
According to The Hill, Ackerman argued people are not only focused on the former president’s testimony but also his deposition with James’s lawyers last summer, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 400 times.
“Now what does it mean to take the Fifth Amendment? It means that you are refusing to answer a question, because a truthful answer would tend to be incriminating,” Ackerman said. “Then what did Donald Trump do last week? He went into court and said, ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything fraudulent, I wasn’t involved in a fraud.’ Which is just the opposite what in effect he was saying when he took the Fifth Amendment in his deposition.”
“So you’ve got contradictory testimony,” Ackerman continued. “You can use his assertion of the Fifth Amendment against him to basically find that he’s lying, that he’s manipulating the system when he goes in, refuses to answer questions, answers the questions in a half-baked manner.”
Earlier this week when Trump took the stand he fiercely defended his business practices and condemned those involved in the case as politically motivated “Trump haters.”
“I just don’t see how this judge at the end of the day is not going to find that, with respect to Donald Trump … ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire,’” Ackerman said.
Ackerman said that in his more than 40 years of civil law experience, he has never seen anyone “do such a stupid move as to suddenly start testifying” after they’ve taken the Fifth Amendment.
Palm Beach County commissioners narrowly approved a controversial trademark agreement Tuesday that clears the way for Palm Beach International Airport to be renamed after President Donald Trump — pushing forward a politically charged project that has divided local leaders and raised fresh concerns about taxpayer costs and oversight.
In a 4-3 vote, the commission signed off on a licensing deal with DTTM Operations LLC, the Trump family company that manages the president’s trademarks. The agreement gives Trump’s organization significant control over how the airport’s new identity is used, including authority over branding, marketing materials and the sale of airport-themed merchandise.
🇺🇸 A public airport is being renamed after Trump, and his family needed a trademark deal to make it happen.
Palm Beach County approved a licensing agreement with Trump's family business yesterday, a requirement to rename Palm Beach International Airport after the sitting… pic.twitter.com/dhONytQG79
The vote marks the first official action by county commissioners tied directly to the airport renaming effort, which was mandated earlier this year by Florida lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Under the agreement, the airport is expected to adopt the name “President Donald J. Trump International Airport,” matching trademark filings submitted by Trump’s company in February.
For the first time, I am extremely proud to share the OFFICIAL logo for the Donald J. Trump International Airport in Palm Beach, Florida. There is no person more deserving of this incredible honor than @realDonaldTrump! Congratulations Dad!
Supporters of the deal argued the county had little choice but to move forward after state lawmakers forced the renaming through Tallahassee. Republican commissioners said approving the trademark agreement ensures Palm Beach County retains at least some role in negotiations surrounding the airport’s future branding and operations.
But critics warned the agreement grants unusually broad authority to Trump’s business organization while locking the county into a deal with no clear exit strategy.
Democratic commissioners Gregg Weiss, Joel Flores and Bobby Powell Jr. voted against the measure, saying they were given less than 24 hours to review the final agreement before Tuesday’s meeting.
They also raised concerns about provisions allowing Trump’s company to approve how the president’s image and biography are used in airport promotions and displays. Another clause requires airport retailers to source airport-branded merchandise only from vendors approved by Trump’s organization.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben said portions of the agreement go beyond what is typically included in standard licensing deals.
“Normally a trademark agreement focuses on quality control standards,” Gerben said. “It’s unusual to see language requiring retailers to purchase merchandise from approved sellers selected by the trademark owner.”
County Attorney David Ottey defended the provision during Tuesday’s meeting, saying it was designed to maintain quality standards and insisting the Trump family would not financially benefit from sales made inside the airport. However, county officials acknowledged they still do not know which vendors may ultimately be approved.
The agreement also contains no termination clause, meaning Palm Beach County would remain bound by the deal indefinitely unless state law changes in the future.
Beyond the political controversy, county officials continue to warn about the financial impact of the renaming project. Administrators estimate the airport overhaul — including signage changes, marketing updates, federal documentation and operational adjustments — could cost taxpayers roughly $5.5 million.
County leaders have repeatedly urged the state to cover those costs rather than forcing local officials to redirect funding away from other infrastructure projects.
Officials have also raised concerns in recent months about possible safety and logistical complications tied to changing the airport’s name, particularly involving aviation systems, emergency coordination and federal regulatory updates.
Still, with Tuesday’s approval now complete and Trump having already signed the agreement over the weekend, the renaming effort appears poised to move ahead — cementing one of the most politically symbolic airport name changes in the country.
This article originally appeared on Official Trump Tracker. Republished with permission.
Billionaire Elon Musk has no plan to back away from politics anytime soon.
SpaceX owner Elon Musk vowed to keep up his political activities in a social media post on Tuesday, saying he would take an active role in the GOP primaries ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“Normally, PACs go somewhat dormant after a big election,” Musk wrote on X, adding:
@America PAC is going to do the opposite and keep grinding, increasing Republican registrations in key districts around the country, in preparation for special elections and the midterms.
“And, of course, play a significant role in primaries,” Musk added.
Normally, PACs go somewhat dormant after a big election.@America PAC is going to do the opposite and keep grinding, increasing Republican registrations in key districts around the country, in preparation for special elections and the midterms.
Musk’s PAC reportedly spent some $200 million to help get Trump reelected in recent months. Musk himself, the world’s richest man, donated some $120 million to aid in Trump’s reelection bid – making him Trump’s second biggest backer after billionaire Timothy Mellon.
Musk’s pledge to stay active in GOP politics is the first sign his interest in the party extends far beyond Trump as activism.
Photos from the opening of the new Delta Air Lines terminal in LaGuardia Airport in Queens, NY, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. (Chris Rank for Rank Studios) (Photos from the opening of the new Delta Air Lines terminal in LaGuardia Airport in Queens, NY, o
Look at how far Andrew Cuomo has sunk.
After resigning as New York Governor due to allegations of sexual misconduct Cuomo announced he plans to start a new business venture. Cuomo’s newest foray into the public sphere comes in the shape of a podcast and one of his first guests is scheduled to be President Donald Trump’s former communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
Scaramucci, who briefly served the Trump administration in 2017, has emerged as a critic of Trump and expressed his support for Biden in the 2020 election.
Cuomo will this week debut a new hourlong show he is calling “As a Matter of Fact” on podcast streaming service Quake, he told Axios, and the show will aim to “hear from people — their questions, their issues — and have that dialogue.”
The former governor told Axios this week he has “learned from the entire situation.”
“There’s a fundamental problem with the entire system here,” Cuomo told the outlet of the media ecosystem writ large. “We have such division of people and we have such dysfunction of government, and part of it is this hyper-partisan, extreme dialogue that goes on.”
“There is a new sensitivity that I didn’t fully appreciate that some people have, and some people have a new sense of cultural boundaries that I didn’t appreciate enough,” Cuomo said.
It seems the disgraced governor is following in his brother’s footsteps. Chris Cuomo, who was a leading anchor at CNN during the Cuomo sex scandal, also started a new podcast after being fired from the network.
