In the administration of Donald Trump the presence of the super-rich reached unprecedented levels in the recent history of the White House. There are 57 officials with a net worth of at least 100 million dollars appointed during the Republican president’s second term, more than four times the total number recorded in the administrations of the three who preceded him. This emerges from an analysis by Public Citizen, a U.S. consumer protection organization, reported by the Associated Press.
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Of the 57 officials identified, 17 are ambassadors, while the other 40 hold top positions in the federal administration. This figure stands out especially when compared to the past: under George W. Bush and Joe Biden the people with net worths of 100 million dollars or more were five for each administration, while with Barack Obama there were three. The count by Public Citizen does not include Trump himself, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at over 6 billion dollars.
The concentration of large fortunes is also evident within the government. Eight of the 23 members of the presidential cabinet fall into the category identified by the report. Among them are Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, both billionaires. Billionaires also include Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg and Kelly Loeffler, head of the Small Business Administration. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff have net worths in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
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The choice to rely on men and women from the wealthiest segments of American society is not, in itself, new. U.S. presidents have traditionally involved major entrepreneurs and financiers in their administrations, and diplomatic posts have often been assigned to wealthy supporters. One of the best-known historical precedents is Andrew Mellon, an industrial, oil, and finance magnate who in the 1920s was among the richest men in the United States and served as Secretary of the Treasury under three presidents.
What distinguishes Trump’s second term, however, are the scale of the phenomenon. Public Citizen especially warns of possible conflicts between private interests and public responsibilities. According to the organization’s co-chair, Lisa Gilbert, such a large presence of economic elite figures at the top of the state can create distorted incentives and raise questions about whose interests are actually being represented. The organization nevertheless emphasizes that personal wealth is not in itself a reason to exclude someone from public service.
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