Donald Trump just delivered Obama a resounding defeat he never saw coming

Barack Obama

The president hasn’t forgotten about his rivalry with Barack Obama. This latest victory for Trump proves that.

And Donald Trump just delivered Obama a resounding defeat he never saw coming.

Some believe that the reason Donald Trump ran for president back in 2015 was because of Barack Obama taunting him at a White House correspondent dinner in 2011.

Everyone knows the story after that. Trump won the presidency in an upset performance in 2016 and then won it again in 2024 in an even more improbably comeback. Not only did he win two terms to the White House, but he also worked to uproot so many of President Obama’s awful policies that were in place.

Sure, Donald Trump didn’t run for office just to get back at Barack Obama, but it had to have felt good for him to ruin Obama’s legacy. And now, he’s continuing to do more to expand his victories over former President Barack Obama.

Trump’s Commerce Secretary Confirmed, Surpassing Obama’s Cabinet Confirmation Pace

Howard Lutnick, a former Wall Street executive, has been confirmed as the new Secretary of Commerce under President Donald Trump. The Senate approved his nomination on Tuesday with a 51-45 party-line vote. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) were absent for the vote.

Lutnick’s confirmation marks another milestone for Trump, whose administration is moving through Cabinet confirmations at a faster pace than both former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. According to a Senate whip aide, by this point in 2009, the Senate had confirmed 16 of Obama’s nominees, while Biden had only seven confirmed at the same stage in 2021.

Obama’s tally does not include former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who remained from the previous administration and did not require another vote. When Gates is factored in, Trump is set to pull ahead of Obama’s pace.

Lutnick, the former CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, becomes the 17th member of Trump’s Cabinet to receive Senate approval. Under Biden, it took 56 days for the Senate to confirm the same number of Cabinet officials, while the Republican-led Senate during Trump’s administration accomplished it in just 29 days.

Ahead of the confirmation vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) praised Lutnick’s resilience and leadership:

“Howard Lutnick’s story is inspiring. It’s a lesson in resilience, in determination, in the American spirit,” Thune said.

He recalled how Lutnick’s firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, suffered immense losses in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, losing more than 650 employees—including Lutnick’s younger brother, Gary.

“Howard Lutnick offered the surviving employees a choice: They could either go to 20 funerals a day for the next month, or they could work harder than ever to rebuild the company,” Thune stated.

Under Lutnick’s guidance, employees at Cantor Fitzgerald agreed to donate a quarter of their salaries to the families of their fallen coworkers.

“Over the next five years, the firm and its employees gave those families $180 million,” Thune added. “In 2008, Howard Lutnick made sure each employee got back double what they had given.”

Thune described Lutnick’s leadership in the wake of tragedy as a reflection of the character he will bring to public service.

As commerce secretary, Lutnick will be responsible for overseeing a vast agency that includes the Census Bureau, the National Weather Service, the Patent and Trademark Office, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Minority Business Development Agency. The department employs nearly 47,000 people and has requested a budget of $11.4 billion for fiscal year 2025.

With his confirmation, Lutnick also moves into the presidential line of succession, standing 10th in line to the presidency.

Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.

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