After his recent confirmation, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has hit the ground running with a focus on achieving President Donald Trump's economic goals.
"That's our goal. Balance the budget of the United States of America by the end of Donald Trump's term. And I am so pumped up for it because we are going to make America the greatest country on earth by a country mile," Lutnick said on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Wednesday.
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The Republican-controlled Senate voted to confirm Lutnick on Tuesday as Trump's commerce secretary, less than a week after senators voted to invoke cloture on his nomination. He needed a simple majority for a full Senate confirmation, getting confirmed on a 51- 45 tally on Tuesday.
"The Democrats didn't show up for me at all," he joked. "I guess they're afraid of good government."
Lutnick, chair and CEO of investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is one of the wealthiest people to serve in a presidential administration. Lutnick vowed to divest his financial interests upon confirmation to remain impartial.
Trump nominated Lutnick to serve as commerce secretary two weeks after he was elected. Lutnick was a co-chair of Trump’s 2024 presidential transition team.
The "pumped up" secretary addressed findings from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a development he helped set up prior to Trump's inauguration.
Lutnick detailed his "agreement" with Musk, saying "Elon was going to cut $1 trillion of waste, fraud and abuse. Think about it. We have almost $4 trillion of entitlements, and no one's ever looked at it before."
"You know Social Security is wrong. You know Medicaid and Medicare are wrong. So he's going to cut a trillion, and then we'll get rid of all these tax scams that hammer against America, and we're going to raise $1 trillion of revenue."
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Lutnick also told Fox News host Jesse Watters that the Trump administration's "objective" to balance the federal budget will happen by the end of his term.
The now-commerce secretary has previously said he aligns with Trump's "trade and tariff agenda," which seeks to remedy trade imbalances by imposing reciprocal tariffs. His confirmation indicates a milestone for Trump's America First policy agenda.
"Donald Trump announced the External Revenue Service, and his goal is very simple. His goal is to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay," he said.
Lutwick went on to say the current trade "tax scam" is "going to end" under the Trump administration.
"We've got to use tariffs. We've got to use the External Revenue Service to take care of America and cut the scams and the abuse, the waste," Lutwick said.
"It's so exciting because think of how great America will be under Donald Trump and what we're trying to do."
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Fox News Digital's Deidre Heavey and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
