Trump’s Wall Street middleman taps network for potential administration roles By Reuters

By Lananh Nguyen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The co-chairman of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s transition team has begun using his network from a career on Wall Street to build a slate of thousands of candidates to serve in a potential administration.

“I want to support President Trump and help him find the greatest talent, the greatest athletes to put on the field, create a wonderful, first-class administration,” said the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, who co-chairs the team with wrestling mogul Linda McMahon.

Its leaders, who are both major donors to Trump’s campaign, are recruiting potential employees as the campaign deals with strategy and policy issues in the run-up to the election.

The relationship between Trump and Lutnick spans decades. After 658 Cantor employees died in the September 11, 2001 attacks, Trump offered support to Lutnick as the CEO rebuilt the firm by hiring thousands.

Now, Lutnick is fielding calls from contacts he made at the helm of Cantor, which organizes deals in sectors such as energy, technology and health care. He also runs brokerage BGC Group and is its chairman The Newmark Group (NASDAQ: ), a commercial real estate services firm, and FMX, a platform owned by some of Wall Street’s largest banks and traders.

Lutnick’s selection is a nod to the business community from which Trump hired executives for his first administration, including former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Trump’s staff has been the subject of intense speculation after the conservative group Project 2025 released a controversial agenda recommending sweeping changes across the federal government. Trump has since disavowed the group’s ideas.

A second Trump White House would likely try to loosen financial regulations, while a potential Democratic administration led by Vice President Kamala Harris would likely pursue tougher financial rules.