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Over a single weekend in August, 1200 technology contractors found themselves locked out of their systems, their access badges deactivated, their projects suspended indefinitely. The mass termination wasn't the result of budget cuts or strategic pivots—it was the fallout from a corruption scheme that reached into the highest echelons of Walmart's Global Tech division. The retail giant's abrupt severance of ties with Caspex-sourced contractors followed the firing of a Global Tech vice president who had been orchestrating an elaborate kickback operation. Daily payments starting from $30,000 flowed from contracting agencies seeking preferential treatment in Walmart's vast technology ecosystem, sources familiar...

Top officials at the Pentagon are “thinking about” whether the U.S. should acquire equity stakes in leading defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday. The Cabinet secretary, in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” revealed the Defense Department’s interest in taking those stakes days after the U.S. government acquired 10% of Intel stock in a roughly $9 billion deal. Lutnick was asked if the Trump administration would repeat that move with other companies that do business with the government. “Oh there’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” Lutnick replied. Lockheed, which makes most of its revenue...

Korean Air announced a $50 billion order on Monday for 103 Boeing airplanes and GE Aerospace engines and servicing, coinciding with the visit of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to Washington. The order, the largest in the Korean air carrier’s history, includes a mix of 787s, 777s and 737 Boeing airplanes worth about $36.5 billion. Reuters first reported the deal earlier Monday. Korean Air also announced a separate deal Monday with GE on the purchase and maintenance of engines valued at $13.7 billion. Many countries negotiating trade deals with the Trump administration have announced or plan to announce significant...

Key Points Trump administration military leaders are “thinking about” whether the U.S. should acquire equity stakes in top defense contractors, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. Lockheed Martin, which makes most of its revenue from federal contracts, is “basically an arm of the U.S. government,” he said. Lutnick’s remarks on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” came days after the U.S. government acquired 10% of Intel stock in a roughly $9 billion deal. =============================================================================== Trump administration military leaders are “thinking about” whether the U.S. should acquire equity stakes in top defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin , Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday. The...

Conservatives are up in arms about Trump's decision to have the government buy a stake in Intel. Classic, textbook socialism. Trump sees the Intel deal as a first step toward creating an American "sovereign wealth fund," with many more investments to follow. This is about keeping America competitive with Communist China, which controls the world's second and third largest sovereign wealth funds. Traditionally, countries rich in national resources, particularly oil, have used sovereign wealth funds to diversify and grow their economies.

Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow expressed concern on Friday over the Trump administration’s move to take a 10 percent stake in mega chipmaker Intel. “I am very, very uncomfortable with that idea. I’m very uncomfortable with that one, but that’s a conversation for another meal on another day,” Kudlow told economist Stephen Moore, in an interview highlighted by Mediate. Moore himself, a Trump economic adviser, earlier in the appearance, also criticized the administration’s decision, calling it “terrible.” “I hate corporate welfare. That’s privatization in reverse. We want the government to divest of assets, not buy assets. So terrible, one of the...

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick canceled an Biden administration agreement Monday to distribute billions of dollars for semiconductor research through a nonprofit set up and staffed by former political appointees, according to a letter obtained by The Post. The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act provided for $11 billion in semiconductor research and development funding to be given out by the Commerce Department’s National Semiconductor Technology Center. “Rather than establishing these operations within the Department, however, Biden Administration officials spent significant time, effort, and resources creating an unaccountable, outside entity–Natcast–to administer taxpayer funds,” Lutnick wrote Natcast CEO Deirdre Hanford. Four days before...

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that TikTok will go dark for Americans unless China agrees to give the U.S. more control over the popular short-form video app. "We've made the decision. You can't have Chinese control and have something on 100 million American phones," Lutnick told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday. TikTok's future in the U.S. has been uncertain since 2024, when Congress passed a bill that would ban the platform unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divested from it. Lawmakers had grown concerned that the Chinese government could access sensitive data from American users or manipulate content...

The preliminary agreement suggests there is a path forward to lowering the auto duties on other major trading partners, as well.President Donald Trump’s “massive” trade deal with Japan is buoying foreign carmakers — and alarming American car companies who fear they are now at a disadvantage.Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on all foreign auto manufacturers in early April, a duty that also applies to cars made by U.S. companies from parts imported from Mexico and Canada. But now, the president is planning to lower the tariff to 15 percent for Japanese autos and auto parts, the White House confirmed...

SummaryStocks rally, driven by auto makers China, EU face looming deadlines Trade deal not seen adding to inflation FRANKFURT, July 23 (Reuters) - Japan's trade agreement with the U.S. could serve as the benchmark for many other deals currently being negotiated with Washington, and the global economy could just about support the 15% level agreed overnight, economists said.Tokyo's deal with the U.S. lowers tariffs on auto imports to 15% from levies totalling 27.5% previously. Duties that were due to come into effect on other Japanese goods from August 1 will also be cut to 15% from 25%.The Reuters Daily Briefing...

The Japanese essentially did not want to face a 25% tariff on automobiles exported to the USA. At the same time, they did not want to permit full USA access to several sectors of their market. The solution is quite remarkable.Japan agrees to be the bank, to essentially finance any national security priority of President Trump to the tune of $55o billion. In return, Japan gets a 15% tariff on automobiles, and 10% return on the profit of the ¹business they finance in the U.S. Japan is essentially purchasing a lower tariff rate.PRESIDENT TRUMP – “We just completed a massive...

Inside the White House, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been perhaps the biggest proponent of ”Liberation Day,” President Donald Trump’s promised unveiling of sweeping new tariffs on Wednesday. But as the day nears, the potential fallout from those tariffs may well liberate Lutnick from his role in the administration, according to half dozen people close to the White House. While Americans and much of the world brace for a possible season of pain following the imposition of the new tranche of tariffs, Trump’s orbit is ready to play the blame game should things go poorly for the White House. And...

Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters Tuesday that the administration plans to offer a “gold card” that would confer legal residency to foreigners at a cost of about $5 million. They said it would replace an existing U.S. visa program for overseas investors that’s long been mired in controversy. The president and Lutnick outlined a program that would also allow corporations to purchase U.S. residency, commonly known as a “green card,” for high-skilled or highly educated employees, suggesting it might replace some kinds of work visa. “ It’s going to be giving you green card privileges plus,” Trump...

President-elect Donald J. Trump is keeping secret the names of the donors who are funding his transition effort, a break from tradition that could make it impossible to see what interest groups, businesses or wealthy people are helping launch his second term.Mr. Trump has so far declined to sign an agreement with the Biden administration that imposes strict limits on that fund-raising in exchange for up to $7.2 million in federal funds earmarked for the transition. By dodging the agreement, Mr. Trump can raise unlimited amounts of money from unknown donors to pay for the staff, travel and office space...

President-elect Donald Trump will name Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition team, to the post of commerce secretary, a source familiar with the matter told The Post Tuesday. Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, had been widely rumored as a contender for the more prestigious post of treasury secretary but appeared to have lost momentum in recent days to hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. The 63-year-old’s pending nomination was first reported by Punchbowl News. As commerce secretary, Lutnick will be one of the key figures responsible for enacting Trump’s planned tariffs on imported goods. The bitter rivalry for the...

He said that Kennedy was “going to work on health and women’s health,” and two sources close to the Trump campaign have told NBC News that he might play a prominent role in battling “chronic childhood disease.” On Friday, Kennedy tweeted that on its first day in office, a Trump administration would push to ban fluoride in water, claiming it is “industrial waste” that leads to problems like cancer and other diseases. “Well, I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but it sounds okay to me,” Trump said Sunday when asked about that plan. “You know, it’s possible.” Major...

They can't handle truth. Have you ever heard of Howard Lutnick? You most likely will soon. Howard W. Lutnick is the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, the venerable financial services firm. He was one of the lesser-noted speakers at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday — you know, the one where, if you believe MSNBC, jackbooted Trump supporters were goose-stepping around and shouting “Sieg heil!” in terrifying unison when a Charlie Chaplin-mustachioed Trump appeared and gave them the straight-arm salute. While all that is lurid fantasy and the left’s latest shameless smear of the Bad Orange Man, Lutnick really did...

Of late, many people — especially politicians, pundits and celebrities on the left — have been engaged in agonizing introspection, trying to ascertain why the election has seemed to tip towards former President Donald Trump. In my estimation, much of the reasoning comes down to an example of “life imitating art.” In this case, such “art” being the 1986 movie “Back to School,” starring Rodney Dangerfield. Now, while some of the entitled, entrenched elites on the left might ignorantly and snobbishly scoff at such a theory — part of the reason they may soon be on the outside looking in...

Former President Donald Trump announced his White House transition team Friday, revealing the key members who will prepare his day-one rollout. The team will include Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick as co-chairs, and some of Trump’s closest allies as honorary chairs, including his vice president, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and his eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. McMahon is a former professional wrestling performer and business executive who served as Trump’s administrator of the Small Business Administration during his first term before chairing the super PAC America First Action. Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, is a billionaire...

Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Rumble's parent company Cantor Fitzgerald, stated on Monday that they have worked out a distribution deal with Donald Trump's planned "Truth" social media platform. Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Rumble's parent company Cantor Fitzgerald, stated on Monday that they have worked out a distribution deal with former President Donald Trump's planned "TRUTH" social media platform. "Truth and the 45th president are going to use Rumble's infrastructure, their technology, their cloud distribution capability, so they are going to be a service provider, a tech provider to the president's Truth Social," Lutnick told interviewer John Bachman on...