President Trump will nominate longtime friend and Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick to lead the Commerce Department, the president-elect said in a statement Tuesday. Mr. Lutnick had been a last-minute contender for the Treasury Department role, though that position has gone unfilled, despite the fact that the president-elect has been rapidly filling out his cabinet. 

Trump announced the nomination on Tuesday afternoon, praising his friend for his role in helping to set up “the greatest Administration America has ever seen.” Mr. Lutnick beat out the former U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, and the former Small Business Administration chief, Linda McMahon — who co-leads the transition with Mr. Lutnick — for the position.

Mr. Lutnick has served as chief executive of the firm Cantor Fitzgerald since 1991, and has been with the firm since he graduated from college in 1983. He has a net worth of about $1.5 billion. The firm, which had offices in the World Trade Center, suffered some of the worst casualties during the 9/11 terror attacks on New York City of any in the twin towers.

As commerce secretary, Mr. Lutnick — if confirmed — will oversee a vast bureaucracy that handles America’s patents, international trade relationships, and support for small businesses. The Cantor Fitzgerald chief will play a critical role in implementing Trump’s tariff policies, which were core to his 2024 messaging around trade fairness and domestic manufacturing. 

Mr. Lutnick in the past has described Trump’s tariffs as nothing more than a negotiating tool so that American manufacturers can break into Asian and European markets. 

“Of course it’s a bargaining chip. We can’t sell a Ford or GM in Europe … Why? There’s 100 percent tariffs. How about Japan? 100 percent tariffs,” Mr. Lutnick told CNBC “They’re gonna come in and negotiate and their tariffs are gonna come down, and finally Ford and General Motors are gonna be able to sell in these places.”

Mr. Lutnick became a near-constant presence on the campaign trail in the final weeks of the 2024 election, speaking on stage at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, and doing interviews on behalf of the campaign. 

The two men have known each other for decades, and speak nearly every day. The president-elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr., described Mr. Lutnick as an incredibly loyal friend, and not the typical back-scratching Wall Street executive. 

“Howard’s not a regular Wall Street guy — he’s a real MAGA guy. Have you heard him talk about tariffs? Have you heard him talk about shredding the deep state bureaucracy? He’s one of us,” Mr. Trump told the Wall Street Journal just days before the 2024 election. 

Mr. Lutnick’s impending nomination as commerce secretary still leaves open the position atop the Treasury Department, which may go to South Carolina financier Scott Bessent, who has met with Trump multiple times since the November election. 

Elon Musk, who is leading the new Department of Government Efficiency and has become close with Mr. Lutnick, came out in favor of nominating Mr. Lutnick for the treasury spot in a post on X. “My view … is that Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change,” Mr. Musk wrote. “Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change.”

Mr. Lutnick’s elevation to commerce secretary could signal more welcome news for the cryptocurrency industry, which flexed its muscles in campaigns across the country with hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising spending this year. He has said in the past that he personally owns hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin, and said that he was buying more every time the price dropped.