Trump administration sees record number of ultra-rich: 57 have fortunes exceeding 100 million

During Donald Trump’s administration the presence of the super-rich has reached unprecedented levels in the recent history of the White House. Fifty-seven officials with a net worth of at least 100 million dollars were appointed during the Republican president’s second term, more than four times the total number recorded in the administrations of his three predecessors. This is according to an analysis by Public Citizen, a US consumer protection organisation, reported by the Associated Press.

Of the 57 officials identified, 17 are ambassadors, whilst the remaining 40 hold senior positions within the federal administration. This figure stands out particularly when compared with the past: under George W. Bush and Joe Biden, there were five people with net worths of $100 million or more in each administration, whilst under Barack Obama there were three. The tally by Public Citizen does not include Trump himself, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at over 6 billion dollars.

The concentration of vast wealth 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 the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and the Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, both of whom are billionaires. Also billionaires are the Deputy Secretary of Defence Stephen Feinberg and Kelly Loeffler, who heads the Small Business Administration. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, on the other hand, have fortunes in the region of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The decision to rely on men and women from the wealthiest sections of American society is not, in itself, anything new. US presidents have traditionally involved leading business figures and financiers in their administrations, and diplomatic posts have often been awarded to wealthy supporters as well. One of the best-known historical precedents is that of Andrew Mellon, an industrial, oil and financial 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 sets Trump’s second term apart, however, is the scale of the phenomenon. Public Citizen warns in particular of potential conflicts between private interests and public responsibilities. According to the organisation’s co-chair, Lisa Gilbert, such a large presence of members of the economic elite at the highest levels of government can create distorted incentives and raise questions about which interests are actually being represented. The organisation emphasises, however, that personal wealth does not in itself constitute a reason to exclude someone from public service.