Less than two weeks before the 25th anniversary of September 11, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick handed foreign ministers something money can’t buy: small squares of steel melted down from the World Trade Center, each one a piece of the building where his brother Gary died alongside 657 of his colleagues.
The Trump administration official paused his artificial intelligence summit with G20 representatives on Wednesday to distribute the gifts, presented in red boxes engraved with the words, “In memory of Gary Lutnick and my 657 friends and colleagues.”
For Lutnick, the moment carried weight that transcends diplomacy. He was dropping his son off for the first day of kindergarten when he learned a plane had struck the North Tower, where his firm Cantor Fitzgerald occupied floors 101 through 105. By the end of that day, 658 of his 960 employees were gone.
The personal toll went even deeper. At his 40th birthday party just two months before the attacks, 65 couples had celebrated with Lutnick and his wife. He later reflected that 27 of those guests were killed on 9/11. Among the dead were his brother and his best friend, Doug.
“We are heading into, in less than two weeks, the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and those many years ago, I took some of the steel from the World Trade Center and melted it down, and I made little one inch squares and gave a one inch square to each of the members of this ministerial to show respect for them and just to show them that this is that time of the year for me,” Lutnick told The Daily Wire.
The commerce secretary explained that his company had a unique hiring culture. When a job opened, everyone at the firm was asked if they knew someone who could fill it. The result, he said, was “not only one big happy family, but people really, really care about the company.”
Lutnick said the G20 nations represented at the summit were quick to rally behind America after the attacks, which made the gift fitting. “It was these countries that immediately stood behind us and with us in those days. So I thought it was incredibly warm and uplifting,” he said during the summit.
Foreign representatives responded with gratitude. “Their comments were warm, kind, and incredibly supportive, historically from when those events happened and how deeply moved they were to remember that,” Lutnick told the outlet.
The tribute stands in stark contrast to recent moves by at least one G20 nation. Canada’s government-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation recently instructed its staff to stop calling the 9/11 terrorist attacks “terrorist attacks.” The CBC told employees to instead describe them as “passenger jet crashes in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Manhattan.”
After the solemn moment on day two of the summit, the G20 ministers returned to discussions on artificial intelligence policy and innovation. All 20 attending countries ultimately reached consensus on a path forward. Lutnick said the agreement reflects “a shared commitment to advancing innovation, investment, and economic growth across our economies.”
