Why this top Trump admin official could be scapegoat if tariff war backfires: 'Don’t know anyone that isn’t pissed off at him’

Howard Lutnick was the former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.

After President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, all eyes seem to be on US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

According to a report by Politico, White House insiders said the tariffs may liberate Lutnick from his current role in the administration.

Announcing  reciprocal tariffs on over 180 countries, Trump on April 2 billed it as "Liberation Day," promising it will put an end to US reliance on foreign goods.

Trump announced new import tariffs outlining the rates to be imposed on countries around the world. India will face a 26 percent tariff.Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "great friend," Trump said that India charges the US 52 per cent, and "we charge them almost nothing."

“I think people would take special pleasure in blaming Lutnick,” one person close to the Trump administration told Politico.

According to the White House insider, Lutnick spends substantial time in the Oval Office, hyping the president on his tariff strategy and “giving him bad advice by pushing more “aggressive tariffs”.

While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly remains the “measured voice” advocating targeted tariffs, Lutnick is “a new voice at the table pushing crazy shit”. “I don’t know anyone that isn’t pissed off at him,” the person quoted above told Politico.

What does White House say?

The White House, however, said each member of the administration is aligned in the effort to strengthen American industries and workers.

"President Trump has assembled the best and brightest trade team in modern American history to reignite American greatness," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai. "They are hard at work, following President Trump’s play book, to deliver for the American people."

Who is Howard Lutnick?

Howard Lutnick was the former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. The prominent Wall Street figure has a vast financial portfolio of over 800 businesses and earnings exceeding $350 million in the past two years. Notably, he has stakes in Greenland’s mining industry through Cantor Fitzgerald’s ties to Critical Metals—a region of interest for Trump, who previously suggested purchasing Greenland.

He was named the Financial Times Person of the Year in 2001 and Ernst & Young’s United States Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010. Lutnick also received the Department of navy’s Public Service Award, the highest honour granted to non-military personnel by the US Navy.

What does Lutnick say?

Lutnick on Wednesday said tariffs are just a response to how the US has been treated on trade.

"The European Union won't take chicken from America. They won't take lobsters from America. They hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak," Lutnick said on Fox News' "Hannity."