Overview

• Lutnick receives nightly calls from Trump around 1 a.m., making him the president’s constant trade adviser.
• Their conversations cover concrete policy issues, including Canadian steel tariffs, alongside sports, TV and gossip.
• In April, Trump summoned Lutnick to explain miscalculated tariff formulas and insisted he defend them on television.
• During public and private outings in Washington, insiders and outsiders alike seek Lutnick’s intervention on policy and favors.
• Critics within the White House deride him as an “errand boy,” even as he drives major trade decisions.