Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Getty
It’s been a hectic few months for the real-estate developers, financiers, and golf champions tapped to help run the second Trump administration. Consummate loose cannon Howard Lutnick has orchestrated the president’s fluctuating tariff regime, while the more mild-mannered Steve Witkoff has been tasked with securing peace in Ukraine and Gaza. That’s quite a portfolio! But with these and other titans of the real-estate industry now in government, who’s watching the store? Their goofy sons, mostly.
Let’s see what they’ve been up to.
After losing out on his bid for Treasury secretary, Howard Lutnick — a longtime friend of the Trump family who raised millions for the president’s 2024 election campaign — had to settle for Commerce. Before his confirmation, however, Lutnick had to step down as CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial-services firm that expanded into real estate after the 2008 crash. Luckily, his sons Brandon and Kyle (27 and 28 years old, respectively) were available to take over. Both boys attended Horace Mann and Stanford University. (According to Bloomberg, Horace Mann now features a “Lutnick Hall,” while Howard and his wife, Allison, provide “major support” to a scholarship program at Stanford.) “They’re kids,” one source described as being “familiar with the Lutnicks” told the Real Deal following their ascension. “There’s no more or no less than what you see.” Cryptic!
Having been named chairman at Cantor, Brandon wasted no time continuing his father’s work of positioning the firm at the center of the growing crypto landscape and deepening its ties with the stablecoin company Tether. In October 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported that Tether was under federal investigation for possible violations of financial sanctions and laws against money laundering. (Tether has said it had “no indication” the company is facing such an investigation and “to suggest that Tether is somehow involved in aiding criminal actors or sidestepping sanctions is outrageous.”) “I’m having the most fun ever,” Brandon said at a recent cryptocurrency conference. He went on to describe himself as having been “orange-pilled” by the “Tether guys.” Though not orange-pilled enough to stop wearing suits, he added. Under Brandon’s leadership, Cantor has gone all in on crypto, both acquiring more of it and influencing other institutional investors and lenders to expand their stake in the industry.
Why does he love crypto so much? According to Brandon, the currency … makes it easier for migrant workers to avoid fees when sending money to family? Also: “Obviously, I’m an American, so I want to spread the dollar around,” he said. “I think stablecoins do an incredible job of dollar hegemony.”
Kyle, meanwhile, was named executive vice-chairman, but it’s not exactly clear what he’s up to. Once an aspiring rapper/DJ going by the handle Kxtz, he hasn’t released a single on Spotify since 2018, and his Soundcloud account has been deleted. We hope he finds some time to work on a few new tracks in between doing whatever it is that he’s doing. (As for possible industry skepticism about Kyle’s abilities, look no further than Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon for proof that DJs can thrive in business.)
A longtime Trump loyalist, Steve Witkoff has had to step away from his eponymous firm since taking on the role of special Middle East envoy. Witkoff is a well-known and well-liked figure in New York City real estate: He’s been a lawyer and a landlord, a fixer and financier — all of which, apparently, prepared him to negotiate peace deals in Ukraine and Gaza. “If you can negotiate all the intricacies of financing a development, zoning and all the competing parts, I think some of the skillset is transferable to solving geopolitical issues,” one industry professional told the Real Deal. “It’s very much a problem-solving ethos.” Meanwhile, famine has taken hold in Gaza, and the war in Ukraine looks likely to grind on for years to come.
Upon entering government, Steve tapped his son Alex, who went from the Riverdale Country School to Wharton, to take over as CEO of the family business. “If you have capable children, it’s important to know when to step away and when to give them their opportunity,” he said recently, citing the Trumps and the Kushners as examples. (Hmmm.) Under Alex’s leadership, the Witkoff Group has continued to develop new real-estate projects like the gargantuan — yet understated — One High Line, a troubled building that has been through both a rebranding and a refinancing in recent years. According to StreetEasy, there are plenty of units available to buy, though only one to rent: a $49,500-per-month three-bedroom with views of the Hudson River and sort of disappointingly gray custom Bulthaup cabinetry.
Last year, as part of what Steve recently called the investment group’s “pivot to Florida,” Witkoff oversaw the opening of the Belgrove in West Palm Beach, a luxury resort offering “an ambiance of British Caribbean hospitality.” And, the Palm Beach Post reports, it’s pet friendly! Much like Brandon Lutnick, Alex — whose 2024 wedding the president attended — loves crypto. And while the industry reaction to Alex’s rise at the firm has so far been muted, there is a fair amount of speculation on r/NYCinfluencersnark that his marriage has collapsed.
Zach Witkoff, along with his brother Alex and their father, co-founded World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s cryptocurrency investment and influence-peddling vehicle. Zach started out working for his father as a project manager before taking over the family office with “a focus on blockchain.” Now, the Journal reports, he travels the world with Eric Trump (fun!) securing funding for World Liberty Financial from foreign leaders and oligarchs seeking to curry favor with the Trump administration and family.
Speaking of influence peddling, Zach named his newborn son, “Don,” after the president.
Arguably the most terrible of all the sons, Eric and Don Jr. have taken over the Trump family business. Eric is running the real-estate side of things, although both he and Don Jr. have been busy setting up billions of dollars’ worth of real-estate and crypto deals around the world. The former has reportedly focused on the Middle East, while the latter has been most active in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. It is the eldest boy who has positioned himself as heir to the president’s political legacy, however, becoming something of a power broker in Washington as well as managing the Trump political brand. Brother-in-law Jared Kushner has played a much quieter role in the second Trump administration than the first, though he’s still around. His father — real-estate developer, slumlord, and pardoned felon Charles Kushner — was recently confirmed as ambassador to France. Félicitations, Charles.
Massad Boulos is a special adviser on Africa to the president. His remit: to secure peace in eastern Congo, anchored by a minerals deal. Boulos, a Lebanese Christian émigré with business holdings in Nigeria, appears to have delivered, despite losing favor with some factions of the Trump administration over embarrassing reports on his apparently inflated personal wealth. As it turns out, the family money actually comes from his father-in-law, Michel Zouhair Fadoul, another Lebanese Christian who made his fortune in construction in West Africa.
Massad’s eldest son, Fares, is an aspiring actor/rapper/TikTok sketch artist based in Lagos who goes by Oyibo Rebel (né Farastafarian). His other son, Michael, is married to Tiffany Trump. They met at Dubai resident Lindsay Lohan’s beach club on Mykonos and got married at Mar-a-Lago, which Marla Maples described as Tiffany’s “childhood home.” (Not exactly true.) The ceremony involved a lot of pale pinks, purples, and aquamarine. Also, disgraced former congressman and alleged statutory rapist Matt Gaetz was there; he, Tiffany, and Michael are reportedly close.
After working for his father — or, really, his grandfather — Michael has struck out on his own: He now works in “global business development” for a luxury holding company that specializes in real estate and yacht rentals. According to the firm’s website, it has €200 million in assets under management and the average yacht length of 74.4 meters. (We’ve seen bigger.) Still, Michael Boulos remains a family man: He helped Eric Trump set up a nonprofit in Florida to support the prospective Trump Presidential Library.
After leaving Microsoft and before becoming governor of North Dakota, secretary of the interior Doug Burgum started a real-estate company, the Kilbourne Group, responsible for the tallest building in Fargo. A whole 18 stories! While his son Joe doesn’t work for the family business, he is involved in the continued redevelopment of Fargo — not least through Folkways, a nonprofit that “creates experiences where you belong.” These include a mobile sauna, inspired by a trip Joe and his partner took to Scandinavia, where they learned about hygge, and a Renaissance-themed night bazaar, where visitors can find sword-fencing demonstrations, roaming jesters, and Renaissance Queen La Serenissima Caterina Loredan, Dogeressa di Venezia. Folkways is sponsored in part by Kilbourne.
Lynda Blanchard served as ambassador to Slovenia in the first Trump administration and has now been named ambassador to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture. She also started a real-estate investment company with her late husband. “Don’t walk, run from any property owned by these guys!” reads one Google review. “I have had nothing but a terrible time trying to get in contact with management,” reads another. “Hands down the worst place I have ever lived,” reports a third. Blanchard’s son Ben is a co-managing partner of the firm; one of his interests on LinkedIn is Anthony Scaramucci.
The founder of a New Jersey general-contracting and project-management company, Edward Sharp Walsh has reportedly won the club championship at Trump National Golf Club in his hometown of Bedminster not once but twice. He is also Trump’s pick to be the new ambassador to Ireland. Asked during an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee how he would handle Ireland’s move to recognize a Palestinian state, Walsh replied, “It certainly is a topic that we’re going to be discussing for a long time, and I am really looking forward to getting really a detailed brief on all the issues relevant to this.” Leave it to the guy responsible for Tommy’s Tap & Tavern in Sea Girt. In the meantime, Ed’s daughter Maggie — an assistant project manager with the family business — will need to step up. Dad’s got a lot of reading to do.
