Lutnick Aims to Raise $10 Million for Trump at Hamptons Event
(Bloomberg) -- Howard Lutnick hopes to raise over $10 million at a fundraiser dinner for Donald Trump this week at the home of the Cantor Fitzgerald chief executive officer.
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“It’s a hot race now and Donald Trump needs the fundraising and I’m trying to help any way I can,” Lutnick said in an interview on Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.
Trump is set to attend the fundraiser with about 100 guests in the Hamptons on Friday, where co-hosts include former hedge fund manager John Paulson and Omeed Malik, president of 1789 Capital. Donors who pay $250,000 will get to sit at a table with Trump.
Lutnick, a longtime Wall Street figure whose ventures include real estate and investment banking, has donated about $1 million to organizations supporting Trump since December, according to OpenSecrets. The billionaire spoke after reporting earnings by his brokerage BGC Group Inc., where shares are up 28% this year after nearly doubling last year.
The New York native has known Trump for 30 years and was a guest on his Apprentice TV show. He also donated to Vice President Kamala Harris in 2016. Lutnick attributed that donation to his wife and said she has since moved over to Trump’s side after she was convinced by his support for Israel.
“Donald Trump sat down with my wife and told her ‘I will be the best president for Israel. I will protect Israel’,” Lutnick said.
He also introduced running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance at a Trump rally in Minnesota last week. While he would accept a role in a future administration, his primary focus is offering help with any transition plan, Lutnick said.
“If the president asks you to serve, you have to say yes,” Lutnick said.
For anyone looking to take advantage of a so-called “Trump trade” should he win, Lutnick suggested they seek out “broad-base” investments, as corporate tax cuts and less regulation would support a wide range of companies. Additional tariffs on China, in turn, would work against the seven largest technology stocks that have been driving the market, he said.
Lutnick said he expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September, likely followed by two cuts next year. In December, he correctly predicted that the Fed wouldn’t cut as aggressively as the market was expecting.
Lutnick also touted BGC’s new futures exchange, FMX, backed by some of Wall Street’s largest banks and market makers. It will take “serious market share” from the dominant CME Group Inc., he said.
Closely held Cantor Fitzgerald is a significant player in the initial public offering market in the US and is set to offer leverage to Bitcoin investors, Lutnick announced last week.
--With assistance from Sonali Basak and Katie Greifeld.
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