In recent months, billionaire chief financial officer Howard Lutnick has emerged as one of former President Donald Trump’s key enablers and closest advisers. He helped galvanize support among Wall Street donors, appeared regularly on cable news to promote the campaign and earned a leadership role on the transition team, where as co-chair he was tasked with overseeing the staff for a possible second Trump -government.

However, his increased public visibility has come with some high-profile missteps. The chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company in New York City, recently came under scrutiny in a much-criticized CNN interview for comments casting doubt on vaccines. Meanwhile, his excessive media presence has reportedly irritated some Trump allies, who fear his open discussions about the transition process have been preemptive before the election ends this week.

Lutnick, 63, had a lower political profile before the election and contributed to both parties. He has cited a range of reasons to more actively support Trump, a longtime friend, including his policies on immigration, cryptocurrency and tariffs on imported goods — an unusual preference for a Wall Street veteran who has identified as a fiscal conservative .

But the Jewish Republican has also indicated that his long-standing commitment to Israel’s security is one of the main reasons he is now so enthusiastically joining Trump, especially after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, which the former president has repeatedly claimed they would never do these. would have happened” if he had won a second term.

Lutnick has said that his decision to become more involved in Trump’s re-election was manifested for him in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. “He had a clear, moral clarity when it came to Israel and what was happening, and the way he thought about what was happening,” Lutnick explained in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer last month. “That was huge for me.”

The Hamas-led massacre appears to have had a profound impact on Lutnick and his wife Allison, the latter of whom traveled to Israel to meet the victims of last year’s attacks in southern Israel.

While Lutnick donated to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2016 Senate campaign, he credited the contribution to his wife, noting that she had since “moved over to Donald Trump — which is unusual for her, because she says Israel is its most important policy.” he said in an interview with Bloomberg this summer.

The former president “literally sat down with my wife and said, ‘I will be the best president for Israel, I will protect Israel and take care of them,’” Lutnick recounted, “so even in my house we have unanimity around Donald Trump. .”

Lutnick, whose company lost 658 employees in the World Trade Center attacks, including his brother Gary, has linked Israel’s fight to a broader fight against global terrorism.

The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund – which was established in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks – has helped raise money for Israel in its fight against Hamas in Gaza. “Hamas is terrorism and we are here to help Israel,” the fund said in a statement after October 7, pledging to match “every dollar” up to a maximum of $1 million.

More recently, Lutnick announced that the fund was donating $7 million “in support of those affected by the war in Israel,” part of which went directly to United Hatzalah, the nonprofit Israeli emergency medical services organization he and his wife have long run. supports.

“Cantor Fitzgerald proved that you can rebuild under the worst circumstances,” Lutnick said last June at the United Hatzalah gala in New York, where he and his wife served as co-chairs and helped raise more than $20 million. “Israel will rebuild and it will be stronger. In fifteen years, Israel will be the shining star of the world.”

The Lutnicks have also contributed more than $1 million to Birthright Israel, according to a list of top donors.

Amid a rise in anti-Semitic protests that raged on college campuses last spring, Israel was reportedly a major topic of discussion at a Trump fundraiser Lutnick hosted in New York City, where he helped raise $10 million for the former president, who has struggled to match Harris’ formidable support. war chest.

A spokesperson for Lutnick confirmed this Jewish insider that Israel is one of the key issues driving his active support for Trump, but has declined multiple requests for an interview and answers to written questions about his involvement in the campaign.

Occasionally, Lutnick’s involvement in Jewish causes intersected with his volunteer work for Trump, which takes up a significant portion of his time.

Last month, for example, Lutnick was among a handful of Trump insiders who accompanied the former president during his Oct. 7 visit to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s grave in Queens, New York — where he prayed for the release of the Gaza hostages.

After the visit, Lutnick’s team contacted Chabad, according to a person familiar with the situation. “They seemed to be thinking about his public image,” the person told JI, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private matter.

Unlike the co-chair of his transition team, Republican donor and businesswoman Linda McMahon — who is handling policy — Lutnick has embraced an increasingly public profile since he was tapped in August to help staff a second term if Trump wins the election.

The financier appears to be enjoying his time in the spotlight, including a high-profile speech at Trump’s controversial rally at Madison Square Garden in late October. “It wasn’t on my bucket list. People like me shouldn’t play Madison Square Garden. This place is amazing!” Lutnick was enthusiastic in his remarks, which addressed the attacks on the World Trade Center. “We must elect Donald Trump because we must crush jihad!” he exclaimed.

But Lutnick’s frequent media hits over the past week have sometimes raised eyebrows — most notably during a recent CNN interview in which he questioned widely debunked claims about vaccine safety, citing a lengthy conversation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , the former presidential candidate who now serves as honorary co-chair of Trump’s transition team.

Lutnick, who was widely criticized for his comments, later made it clear on social media that he and his wife “trust our doctors and have vaccinated our children and ourselves based on their advice.”

The negative reporting just before the elections was seen by some Trump advisors as an unforced error The stronghold‘s Marc Caputo – who quoted several anonymous campaign sources who criticized CNN’s actions, among other things.

However, the Trump campaign expressed satisfaction with Lutnick in a statement shared with JI last week. “As President Trump’s broad coalition of supporters and supporters expands, we are proud that business leaders like Howard Lutnick are actively working to elect President Donald J. Trump, whose agenda to lower costs, secure the border and stopping violent crime resonates with Americans of all backgrounds,” said Brian Hughes, senior adviser to the Trump campaign.

“As Kamala Harris doubles down on her ‘values’ of opening our border to migrant criminals, implementing Venezuela-style price controls and prioritizing anti-Semitic gangs over Israel, we look forward to playing out President Trump’s ‘big tent campaign’ expand with powerful voices in the team. as we work to restore America’s greatness,” Hughes added.

As he puts together shortlists to help fill thousands of political jobs ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, Lutnick has emphasized that he is looking for loyalists who won’t interfere with the former president’s “America First” policies . He has also distanced the campaign from Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s controversial blueprint for a second term, which Harris has often cited as a threat to democracy.

Lutnick, who helped rebuild Cantor Fitzgerald after the September 11 attacks, has reportedly sought personal advice from a range of people in his new role, including Elon Musk, who has called for dramatic cuts in government spending; Marc Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management; and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser, who has not been actively involved in the campaign.

For his part, Lutnick has dismissed rumors that he would be interested in being appointed ambassador to Israel — even though his support for the Jewish state had, he said, played a major role in motivating his increased involvement in the re-election effort from Trump.

Two sources familiar with the matter said Trump’s team has not focused on appointing an Israeli ambassador as the election draws to a close. “This is just media talk,” a Trump confidante told JI. “Trump doesn’t think that way. It’s all about Pennsylvania and Michigan.”

Still, Lutnick has indicated he is open to a Cabinet post, such as leading the Treasury Department. “If he wants me in the mosaic, he should put me in it,” Lutnick said of Trump in an interview with the American newspaper The Washington Post. Financial times last month. “I’m not putting myself in it.”