Trump Nominates Cubs Co-Owner Todd Ricketts For Deputy Commerce Secretary

By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 30, 2016 5:03PM

It’s official: Todd Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and scion of political mega-fundraiser Joe Ricketts, has joined Donald Trump’s cabinet. President-elect Trump announced the nomination of Todd Ricketts as Deputy Secretary of Commerce on Wednesday.

Trump spoke about the nod in a statement, pointing to Ricketts’ role within the Cubs:

"Todd Ricketts is an immensely successful businessman with unparalleled knowledge of the finance industry. As Deputy Commerce Secretary he will help us cut waste and streamline government so that it works for the people of America. The incredible job he and the Ricketts family did in the purchase and turnaround of the Chicago Cubs - one perfect step after another, leading to the World Championship, is what I want representing our people. I am very proud to have him on our team.”

The irony of marketing Cubs success was not lost on the commentariat:

Speculation ran rampant after Ricketts met with Trump last Saturday. The nomination marks the culmination and (seeming hatchet burial) of truly strange back-and-forth between Trump and the Ricketts family over the last several months. The Ricketts family partially funded an anti-Trump PAC during the Republican primary—to which Donald Trump responded with, yep, an inflammatory tweet:

When asked what "they better watch out" means by the Washington Post, Trump threatened to run commercials about the "rotten job" the Ricketts family was doing with the Cubs:

"Well, it means that I’ll start spending on them. I’ll start taking ads telling them all what a rotten job they’re doing with the Chicago Cubs. I mean, they are spending on me. I mean, so am I allowed to say that? I’ll start doing ads about their baseball team. That it’s not properly run or that they haven’t done a good job in the brokerage business lately."

Trump also announced his intent to nominate hedge-funder Steven Mnuchin as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury and Wilbur Ross as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.