President Donald Trump's second administration includes 57 officials worth at least $100 million, according to a new report from the watchdog group Public Citizen — more than four times the combined number of ultra-wealthy appointees under the three previous presidents. The tally spans Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, and senior executive-branch officials, and it arrives as Trump himself, a billionaire whose net worth Forbes estimates at more than $6 billion, has pushed policies on taxes, financial regulation, and artificial intelligence that could benefit wealthy Americans.
The report, published Monday and detailed by WSOC-TV, found that the George W. Bush administration included five members worth at least $100 million, the Barack Obama administration included three, and the Joe Biden administration included five — a combined 13 compared with Trump's 57. Trump's Cabinet alone counts eight of 23 members in that wealth bracket, and his administration includes 17 ambassadors and 40 senior executive-branch officials worth $100 million or more. The report's authors were explicit about their concern: a government dominated by the ultra-rich, they said, can produce misplaced incentives and corruption. Notably, the report excludes Trump himself from its count of administration officials.
Billionaires Fill Key Economic and Security Posts
Among the names cited are Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, all identified as billionaires. Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg is also a billionaire, according to the report, while special envoy Steve Witkoff and current Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are each described as worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Separate reporting from ProPublica found that an analysis of financial disclosures from more than 1,600 executive branch appointees put aggregate reported asset values somewhere between $21 billion and $51 billion across federal agencies, with ProPublica separately noting that Feinberg holds at least $2 billion in reported assets, U.K. Ambassador Warren Stephens holds $1.1 billion, and Navy Secretary John Phelan holds $791 million.
Trump has defended the concentration of wealth in his administration by arguing that wealthy business leaders possess great competence and are among the smartest business leaders in the country. He views financial success as evidence of executive mastery and negotiating strength — a framing that echoes his approach during his first term, when, per a 2016 analysis from Quartz, his inaugural Cabinet picks held a combined net worth exceeding the individual gross domestic product of more than 70 nations. Trump has pursued reduced regulatory burdens for large-scale investments during his second term, alongside tax cuts that could benefit wealthy people.
Ballroom Donors and Federal Contracts Draw Scrutiny
Public Citizen's concerns extend beyond personnel wealth to the flow of money around the administration itself. A separate June investigation by the group found that 14 of 27 identified corporate donors funding Trump's $400 million White House ballroom project received more than $50 billion in new or expanded federal contracts over a six-month span, according to Public Citizen. That same study found that 16 of the 27 corporate donors faced active federal enforcement actions or had federal regulatory proceedings suspended during the second Trump administration. In May, Public Citizen also filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the IRS and Treasury Department to investigate a proposed $1.77 billion federal fund intended to compensate individuals claiming wrongful targeting under prior federal investigations.
The wealth concentration comes as Trump faces a midterm-election electorate less favorable toward his handling of the economy than when he took office. U.S. adults approved of his handling of the economy at a 40% rate at the start of his second term, but that figure had fallen to 32% last month, according to the report cited by WSOC-TV. The Republican Party faces headwinds in its effort to retain both congressional majorities in the November 2026 midterms, even as Trump has pledged to lower everyday costs during his White House comeback.
Historical Echoes and Broader Wealth Trends
Wealthy Cabinets are not unique to Trump. Historians have noted that President Dwight D. Eisenhower's initial 1953 Cabinet was sardonically dubbed “nine millionaires and a plumber” after he appointed union leader Martin Durkin alongside a slate of wealthy corporate executives, according to the Los Angeles Times. Decades earlier, Andrew Mellon served as Treasury secretary for three presidents during the 1920s while amassing significant personal wealth. But the scale documented in the new Public Citizen report marks a sharp departure from those precedents.
The pattern of concentrated wealth is not confined to the executive branch. A Hoodline analysis published in March found that at least 73 of 100 U.S. senators held net worths exceeding $1 million, giving the chamber a median net worth of $4.4 million compared with a national median household net worth of roughly $192,900. Federal ethics monitoring data from the Office of Government Ethics shows that executive branch ethics programs oversee financial disclosure compliance for more than 450,000 employees across more than 140 federal agencies, all governed by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which requires senior presidential appointees to file public Form 278e reports detailing their asset ranges, income sources, and liabilities.
Elon Musk, whom Forbes estimates is worth about $860 billion and who is described as the world's wealthiest person, advised Trump early in the second term on reducing the size, scope, and workforce of the federal government. The administration's blend of personal fortunes and policy influence has also played out on the diplomatic stage: Trump met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office in late July, one of several instances in which wealthy appointees and envoys have taken on prominent roles in foreign affairs alongside the president's economic agenda.
