Howard Lutnick dug up comments Sean Duffy made criticizing Donald Trump a decade ago to undermine a fellow Cabinet secretary in an effort to lower his chances of being appointed transportation secretary, according to a new book about the 2024 election.
The attempt ultimately failed, but the incident was one of many episodes of sabotage and infighting among potential Cabinet officials that ultimately shaped Trump's presidential transition, ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Carr reports in his upcoming book, “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Movement that Changed America.”
New details about the transition were first reported in excerpts from the book published Thursday. Vanity Fair.
The book details the frantic process by which billionaires, politicians and TV stars flocked to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's club and residence in Florida, to mingle with future government leaders and increase their chances of being chosen by Trump. Kahl said Trump entered the second administration with new confidence compared with the first, which he said was undermined by disloyal Cabinet officials.
“This is simply wrong. Completely wrong,” a Commerce Department spokesperson told ABC News in a statement overnight.
Jonathan Carr's new book, Retribution.
Penguin Random House
“The difference between now and before is I know everybody now, whereas when I first came here I knew nobody,” Trump told Carr in an October 2024 phone call. “We had a lot of good people. But I didn't know people. Had to rely on recommendations. Now I know people.”
Despite his confidence, Trump refused to seriously consider how to orchestrate a transition until victory, fearing that planning an administration without winning the election could hurt his chances.
“I don't like talking about transition until I win,” Trump said, according to Carr. “When we win, you and I will talk about it. But until you win, I don't like talking about transition.”
Carr said that under Lutnick, the process of selecting officials was tailored to determine the characteristics Trump valued most. He reported:
Lutnick installed a conference table in the tea room, as well as several large television screens, which he used to introduce potential nominees to Trump. One monitor will show bullet points (no more than five) describing the candidate's qualifications, while a second screen will be loaded with video clips of his or her most recent television appearances. A third monitor would show a large photo of the candidate — a profile picture — so Trump could see whether he or she looked like that candidate; whether, in Trump's view, they were outside of “core casting.”
Carr said the infighting began early in the transition. When word spread two days after the election that Susie Wiles had met with Trump and was offered the White House chief of staff job, two other contenders — Linda McMahon and Brooke Rollins — rushed to Mar-a-Lago to undermine the selection, Carr said. Carr said Trump aides working for Wiles stopped the aspiring Cabinet officials when they arrived and even orchestrated a phone call with Vice President-elect Vance to prevent them from meeting Trump in time. McMahon and Rawlings arrived too late and ended up in leadership positions in the Departments of Education and Agriculture, respectively.
Current Commerce Secretary Lutnick specifically lobbied former Uber executives to run the Department of Transportation. When he learned Trump was considering Tamiflu – the former Fox Business host and reality TV star MTV “The Real World” — Lutnick dug up a 2015 interview in which Duffy criticized Trump, hurting his chances of being drafted.
Carl reports:
While Lutnick's efforts to dig up dirt ultimately proved feeble, an offhand comment nearly a decade ago almost cost Duffy his job. Trump reconsidered that choice, calling Duffy and his wife, Rachel, who convinced the president-elect that Sean had long since changed his mind about Trump's conservative bona fides. On November 18, Trump made the final decision: “Sean is a wonderful woman, the husband of Fox News star Rachel Campos-Duffy, and the father of nine incredible children. Sean knows how important it is for families to be able to travel safely and securely.”
ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Carr's “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign to Change America” will be published on October 28 Available for booking At Penguin Random House.