Trump Nominates Rutnick as Commerce Secretary...I'm going to push ahead with the Matt Gates nomination.

[Anchor]
U.S. President-elect Trump has named Chief Executive Howard Rutnick Kenter Fitzgerald, who Elon Musk recommended as his nominee for Treasury secretary, as Commerce Secretary.

Musk's influence appears to have played a role as a billionaire advocating for tougher tariffs, and Trump is also unlikely to withdraw his controversial nomination for attorney general Matt Gates.

This is Washington correspondent Hong Sang-hee.

[Reporter]
U.S. President-elect Trump has named Howard Rutnick, CEO of the investment bank "Kentor Fitzgerald," as secretary of commerce.

He is a financial asset man who advocates tightening tariffs and reviving manufacturing, which Trump emphasized during the presidential election, and is also a co-chair of the transition team.

During the presidential campaign, Rutnick also claimed that the United States was most prosperous in the early 20th century, when there were only tariffs.

[Howard Rutnick/Kentter Fitzgerald CEO (last month 28): Our economy was extraordinary when the century turned. At that time, there was no income tax, only tariffs. And we had too much money.]

Initially, it was mentioned as a strong candidate for finance minister, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly supported it, which eventually proved Musk's influence.

Musk has also defended Matt Gates, a 17-year-old candidate for attorney general, who has been widely opposed to sex buying and drug allegations, saying the case has already been closed.

In a post to X, Elon Musk said Matt Gates had the brain and steel wick he needed for the attorney general, stressing it would be a "hammer of justice."

But opposition is also widespread, with Republican senators, as well as Democrats, calling for the release of the House Ethics Committee's report on the Gates allegations.

[Senator Chuck Grasley/Republican: If you want a quick review of this nomination, I think you need to be as transparent as possible.]

There is also a "ineligible controversy" over defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and national intelligence director nominee Tulsi Gabbard, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was named health and human services secretary.

The New York Times reported that Trump is pressuring Republican senators to support Gates, although he knows his confirmation of the Gates nomination is likely to be rejected.

Trump's adherence to the nomination of Gates appears to be a strategy to lower the Senate's standards to get other controversial figures through.

However, due to a series of controversies over the qualifications of the nominees, labor is expected to be inevitable during the confirmation process.

I'm Hong Sang-hee from Washington.