Trump's billionaires set to take government by storm
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President-elect Trump has assembled an administration of unprecedented, mind-boggling wealth — smashing his own first-term record by billions of dollars.
- That's even without counting the ballooning fortunes of his prized outside adviser and the world's richest man: Elon Musk.
Why it matters: It's not hyperbole to call this a government of billionaires. Whether it acts as a government for billionaires — as Democrats argue is inevitable — could test and potentially tarnish Trump's populist legacy.
The big picture: Besides Trump, Musk and his fellow Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Vivek Ramaswamy, at least 11 billionaires will be serving key roles in the administration.
- They've been picked to lead the departments of Treasury (Scott Bessent), Commerce (Howard Lutnick), Education (Linda McMahon), Interior (Doug Burgum), the Small Business Administration (Kelly Loeffler) and NASA (Jared Isaacman).
- On Thursday night, Trump announced that tech investor David Sacks, an early executive at PayPal and top Musk ally, would serve as White House AI and crypto czar.
- Financier Stephen Feinberg has been nominated for the No. 2 position at the Pentagon; Trump family in-laws Charles Kushner (ambassador to France) and Massad Boulos (Middle East adviser) were tapped for diplomatic roles alongside billionaire donor Warren Stephens (ambassador to the U.K.).
- An additional four top appointees are hundred-millionaires: Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz (Medicare and Medicaid administrator), Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano (Social Security commissioner), real estate executive Steven Witkoff (Middle East envoy) and fracking CEO Chris Wright (Energy Department).
By the numbers: Trump's projected Cabinet alone is worth at least $10 billion, according to research by Axios and the nonprofit Americans for Tax Fairness — an estimate that likely undervalues the true total.
- With Musk, Ramaswamy and other wealthy appointees included, the top of the Trump administration's net worth is likely higher than the GDP of hundreds of countries, including Finland, Chile and New Zealand.
- President Biden's Cabinet, by comparison, was worth an estimated $118 million when he took office, according to Forbes.
Between the lines: Trump's gilded Cabinet is the product of an election in which billionaires spent like never before in U.S. history — mostly on behalf of Republicans.
- And yet it was Democrats who shed major support among working-class voters, suggesting Trump's populist message — and the aspirational riches he represents — once again were underestimated.
What to watch: Still, by rewarding so many of his biggest donors and billionaire allies with plum postings, Trump could risk flying too close to the sun.
- With every billionaire appointee comes a minefield of conflicts of interest and ethical concerns — exactly the kind of swampy conditions that Trump has vowed to drain.
- The optics alone could turbo-charge the strain of populist left politics — championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — that characterizes America today as an "oligarchy."
The bottom line: Musk already has previewed the kind of clumsy messaging that could allow Democrats to paint Trump's billionaires as woefully out of touch.
- "We have to reduce spending to live within our means," Musk — whose PAC spent nearly $200 million to help Trump get elected — declared at town hall days before the election.
- "And, you know, that necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity," the world's richest man added.
