Trump chooses billionaire and key transition adviser Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary [Video]

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Howard Lutnick, head of the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, as his nominee for commerce secretary – a position in which he’d have a key role in carrying out Trump’s plans to raise and enforce tariffs.

Trump made the announcement Tuesday on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Lutnick is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, along with Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who previously led Trump’s Small Business Administration. Both are tasked with putting forward candidates for key roles in the next administration.

The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a sprawling Cabinet agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial.

An advocate for imposing wide-ranging …