Trump transition team co-chair warns prospective appointees must prove ‘loyalty’

Howard Lutnick, former President Trump’s transition team co-chair, said prospective appointees will only be tapped for future roles in a hypothetical Trump administration if they prove “loyalty” to the former president and his policies.

Lutnick, who also heads the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, indicated in a Financial Times interview published Monday that he would try to avoid the high turnover rate that plagued Trump’s first term in office.

Lutnick said Trump intends to execute his agenda at a “speed no one’s ever done before,” the outlet reported, and selecting loyal appointees who share Trump’s vision would help him do so.

“Those people were not pure to his vision,” Lutnick told the Financial Times of the advisers who quit or became hostile during Trump’s first term.

In a hypothetical second term, Lutnick said, “They’re all going to be on the same side, and they’re all going to understand the policies, and we’re going to give people the role based on their capacity — and their fidelity and loyalty to the policy, as well as to the man.”

The interview comes just a month ahead of the November election, in which Trump and Vice President Harris appear neck and neck in most recent major polls, particularly in the swing states likely to decide the election.

Lutnick is leading the transition team with former Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon. Also serving honorary roles in the transition team are Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio); Donald Trump Jr.; Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii).

The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.