Donald Trump's first administration was filled with super-rich individuals with all their assets available over $5 billionThis marks an unprecedented marriage of cash and executive power.
Trump's second term could make that total appear like a chump change.
More than half a dozen of the Republican president-elect's candidates for his latest administration are either confirmed billionaires or are widely alleged to be. Numerous others are multimillionaires or lots of of millionaires.
The richest by far is Elon Musk, whom Trump tapped to co-head a bespoke advisory group tasked with reducing alleged government waste.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is the richest person on this planet, together with his net value estimated to be higher $346 billion and as high as $362 billion.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur and former presidential candidate who works with Musk on the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, is reportedly value $1 billion Forbes.
The non-profit Americans for Tax Fairness Last month it was estimated that the common net value of Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and their top candidates was $616 million.
For comparison, Forbes estimated the entire net value of President Joe Biden's entire Cabinet 118 million dollars. And the tax group's evaluation is probably going a low-level estimate since it was prepared before Trump announced plenty of other very wealthy candidates.
Last week he picked the billionaire financial services CEO Warren Stephens as his ambassador to the United Kingdom, billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg as deputy defense secretary and enterprise capitalist David Sacks as his crypto czar.
Trump also picked Kelly Loeffler, a former U.S. senator who was reportedly considered a probable candidate richest person during his tenure on Capitol Hill to steer the Small Business Administration.
That same day, he named billionaire CEO Jared Isaacman to move NASA.
He selected on the weekend Charles Kushnerthe daddy of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, as his selection for US ambassador to France.
The newcomers join plenty of other super-rich Cabinet members, including billionaire Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary, WWE co-founder Linda McMahon as Education Secretary and Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.
Trump has also proclaimed himself a billionaire Massad Boulosthe father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, as a top adviser on the Middle East.
And Trump selected Dr. Mehmet Oz as leader Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. According to a, Oz was value as much as $300 million in 2022 New York Times Analysis of a financial disclosure submitted by Oz during his failed bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania.
He lost that campaign to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who had worked to portray Oz as out-of-touch — a task made easier when Oz posted a viral video through which he discussed the price of putting together a raw food platter complained.
Musk and Ramaswamy don’t have to be confirmed by the Senate: Their group will operate outside the federal government and work closely with the Office of Management and Budget.
But other wealthy Trump picks must navigate the Senate's public confirmation process, spotlighting the myriad potential financial and ethical conflicts they may bring with them.
The rise of plutocrats could also risk diluting Trump's populist brand, which has gained popular support Working class voters within the 2024 election.
Certainly being wealthy has not been a burden for Trump to date. His billionaire status has long been a central feature of his public persona and is a component of his appeal for lots of his supporters. He is by far the richest person to ever function president, with assets currently value greater than $6 billion per person Forbes.
But with the federal government poised to usher in levels of prosperity that dwarf all previous ones, the private fate of the nominees could grow to be a good more vital issue.
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