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howard lutnick
Trump Commerce Secretary Admits He Did, In Fact, Go to Epstein’s Island
Sen. Chris Van Hollen told Howard Lutnick he "misled the country and the Congress" when he claimed to have cut off ties with the billionaire sex offender.
Feb 10, 2026
President Donald Trump's commerce secretary admitted during a Congressional hearing on Tuesday that he lied to the public about his relationship with the billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was his next-door neighbor for 13 years.
As suspicion swirled around the president over his own ties to the infamous predator, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed on a podcast last year that he'd been horrified after meeting Epstein once at his New York City apartment in 2005, during which he said the financier made sexual innuendoes and showed off his massage table to Lutnick and his wife.
Lutnick said he then vowed to “never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again." He added: “I was never in the room with him socially, for business, or even philanthropy. If that guy was there, I wasn’t going, because he’s gross."
But emails released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) late last month have revealed that Lutnick maintained a relationship with Epstein until 2018, just a year before his death in jail, and a full decade after the financier had been convicted of soliciting an underage prostitute.
Not only did Lutnick meet with Epstein for drinks and meals on multiple occasions and go into business with him, but he also made arrangements in 2012 to meet with Epstein on his private Caribbean island, where victims say sexual abuse of minors was rampant.
After facing bipartisan calls to resign from his post amid the new revelations, Lutnick appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, where he again attempted to wriggle out of the accusation that he'd remained cozy with Epstein.
"Of these millions and millions of documents, there may be 10 connecting me with him... over a 14-year period," Lutnick said. "I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with that person, OK?"
Unconvinced by the denial, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) asked Lutnick if he'd ever made the visit to Epstein's island that was outlined in the 2012 email.
Lutnick admitted he did, in fact, have lunch with Epstein during what he described as a "family vacation."
"My wife was with me, as were my four children and nannies. I had another couple. They were there as well with their children. And we had lunch on the island," he admitted.
He said they were there for about "an hour" and that nothing "untoward" occurred while he was there. He clarified that he left "with all of my children" and everyone else who'd accompanied him, including their nannies.
Notably, one of those nannies is the subject of another email sent to Epstein from his accountant, Richard Kahn, in 2013. In the email, Kahn tells Epstein: "Attached is a resume of Lutnick's nanny. I am trying to arrange a time... for you to meet her."
During the hearing, Lutnick said he was surprised to learn that the nanny appeared in the email and that, as far as he knows, she never met Epstein.
Van Hollen said that there was reason to believe Lutnick "misled the country and the Congress" when he suggested that he'd cut off all contact with Epstein.
Speaking of Lutnick's meeting at the island, Van Hollen said: "You realize that this visit took place after he'd been convicted. You made a very big point of saying you sensed this was a bad person in 2005, and then, of course, in 2008 he was convicted of soliciting prostitution of a minor. And yet, you went and had this trip and had other interactions."
Van Hollen said that even if Lutnick himself was not accused of wrongdoing with Epstein, the fact that he misled the public is worthy of shame.
“That does call into question your fitness for the job you now hold, and the question of your credibility before this committee and the Congress,” the senator said.
Van Hollen also asked about another gathering mentioned in the emails, which supposedly happened in 2011 and included Lutnick and other prominent figures, such as the filmmaker Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn. (Previn is the adopted daughter of Allen's ex, Mia Farrow. Another adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, accused Allen of sexual assault, which he denied.)
After initially denying that the dinner took place, Lutnick said he didn't know what Van Hollen was referring to, then said there was a document in the tranche of files suggesting he'd met with Epstein again for only an hour and that they did not have dinner.
"I looked through the millions of documents for my name just like everybody else," Lutnick said.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) later appeared astonished by that statement.
“No," he said, "everyone isn’t worried about their names being in the Epstein files."
Following the hearing, calls for Lutnick to step down have only grown louder.
"Howard Lutnick, Donald Trump’s secretary of commerce, lied about his connection to Epstein, helped source a 'nanny' for Epstein, [and] visited rape island AFTER Epstein pled guilty to sex crimes," wrote Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)
McGovern also mentioned a $50,000 donation Epstein made in 2017 to a dinner keepingLutnick and another investor, which was put on by the Jewish philanthropic organization UJA-Federation of New York. Emails show that Epstein was offered 10 seats to attend the event but declined, saying Lutnick could fill them.
"This has gone on long enough," McGovern said. "Lutnick is a liar, and he needs to resign."
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Dems Call to Investigate Commerce Secretary Boosting AI Data Centers That 'Enrich His Entire Family'
"Never in modern US history has the office intersected so broadly and deeply with the financial interests of the commerce secretary’s own family," according to the New York Times.
Dec 19, 2025
A group of Democratic lawmakers has called for the Commerce Department to investigate whether its billionaire secretary, Howard Lutnick, is improperly boosting artificial intelligence data centers that "stand to enrich his entire family."
The group of 25 House and Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), sent a letter on Thursday urging the department's acting inspector general, Duane Townsend, to review whether Lutnick violated any part of the ethics agreement he signed following his nomination.
That agreement required him to divest his stake in the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which he had owned and led for decades. Cantor owns the Newmark Group, a real estate broker that facilitates leases for AI data centers.
Lutnick stepped down from his position as CEO in February, handing his financial stake in the company to his adult sons, Brandon and Kyle.
Though the transfer of his stake was supposed to happen in May, records show he did not do so until October, after receiving an ethics waiver from the Trump administration that allowed him to continue working on matters that could affect the company.
The lawmakers described some of these potential conflicts in the letter, many of which were revealed by a New York Times investigation last month:
Multiple press reports indicate that, in his capacity as head of the Commerce Department, Secretary Lutnick has helped boost AI data centers in ways that will likely enrich his own family. He has made public appearances promoting data center projects—including at least one that his family's company has worked on.
Furthermore, Secretary Lutnick has reportedly pressured foreign governments to invest in the US data center industry. For example, as part of a recent AI chips export deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Secretary Lutnick reportedly pushed the UAE to "build data centers in America,” in exchange for the United States loosening export control restrictions on certain advanced chips. The Trump administration ultimately approved this deal, under which the Lutnick-backed Newmark Group is primed to profit from that Emirati investment.
Similarly, as part of another trade deal, Secretary Lutnick reportedly pushed South Korea to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States. One startup vying for some of South Korea's investment has paid the Lutnick family's companies millions in fees to help it secure financing and land for its new data center.
Though businesspeople have often occupied the role of Commerce Secretary, the Times reported last month that "never in modern US history has the office intersected so broadly and deeply with the financial interests of the commerce secretary’s own family, according to interviews with ethics lawyers and historians."
According to the company's most recent quarterly earnings report, Newmark has completed more than $25 billion in data center deals over the past 12 months, resulting in its most lucrative year in the firm's history.
Citing evidence that the construction of AI data centers considerably spikes energy costs for consumers, the lawmakers said, "There is substantial public interest in ensuring that Secretary Lutnick is not violating federal ethics law to propel data centers that will be profitable for his family while making life more expensive for working Americans."
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Trump Economic Approval Hits All-Time Low as White House Official Insists ‘Nothing Bad Is Happening’
“Trump’s claims about inflation are false, and you can go to the grocery store and see it yourself,” said one economist.
Dec 11, 2025
A new poll shows US voters' approval of President Donald Trump's handling of the economy has hit an all-time low, even as the president and his officials insist the economy is the best in the world.
The latest Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Thursday found that only 31% of voters approve of Trump's handling of the economy, the lowest figure in that survey throughout either of his two terms in office. Overall, 68% of voters said that the current state of the economy was "poor."
What's more, Trump's approval rating on the economy among Republican voters now stands at just 69%, a strikingly low figure for a president who has consistently commanded loyalty from the GOP base.
Despite the grim numbers, the president and his administration have continued to say that the US is now in the middle of an economic boom.
During a Thursday morning interview on CNBC, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the US now has "the greatest $30 trillion economy in the world."
"We are doing great," Lutnick said. "Nothing bad is happening. Greatness is happening. We grew at 4% GDP! Come on!"
Lutnick: "Jay Powell is too afraid to lead the greatest $30t economy in the world. We should be leading with our front foot. Instead we are always leaning back as if something bad is happening. We are doing great. Nothing bad is happening. Greatness is happening. We're growing 4%… pic.twitter.com/uWqrlwpllE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 11, 2025
Lutnick's message echoes the one Trump delivered earlier this week during a rally in Pennsylvania, where he said that voters' concerns about being able to afford basics such as groceries, electricity, and healthcare were a "hoax" concocted by Democrats.
"Prices are coming down very substantially," Trump falsely claimed during his speech. "But they have a new word. You know, they always have a hoax. The new word is affordability."
Trump on the US economy: “I said it the other day. And a lot of people misinterpreted it. They said ‘Oh he doesn’t realize prices are high.’ Prices are coming down very substantially. But they have a new word. You know, they always have a hoax. The new word is affordability.” pic.twitter.com/JkErFnkT1D
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) December 10, 2025
As NPR reported on Thursday, data shows that the prices of groceries and electricity have continued to rise throughout Trump's second term, directly contradicting his claims that prices are "coming down."
University of Michigan economist Betsey Stevenson told NPR that Trump is playing with fire by making false claims about prices when US consumers can see costs persistently going up.
"Trump's claims about inflation are false, and you can go to the grocery store and see it yourself," Stevenson said.
Even some members of Trump's own party are growing wary of him insisting that America is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom when voters feel otherwise.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told The Hill that Trump's insistence on making happy talk about the economy would not fly with voters.
"You can’t call it a hoax and suggest that people are going to believe it," she said. "What you say matters."
An anonymous Republican senator also told The Hill that they were concerned about the optics of Trump building a massive luxury ballroom in the White House at a time when Americans say they are struggling financially.
"The cost of living just makes life very difficult on people," the senator stressed.
And Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) gently pushed back on Trump's messaging by telling CNN that "a lot of people are still having trouble making ends meet" in her state.
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