Inside Trump's billionaire Cabinet
Is the government ready for a Trump administration stacked with some of the wealthiest people in the world?


There are approximately 800 billionaires living in the United States with a combined net worth approaching an astonishing $6 trillion, said Forbes. All told, America hosts nearly a third of the world's estimated 2,781 billionaires. Within that elite congregation, there exists an even more exclusive tier for the country's wealthiest: those tapped to be a part of President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming administration.
A billionaire himself, Trump's decision to staff his pending White House with fellow ten-figure figures (eight so far) has made his administration worth "more than the GDP of 169 different countries," at least $350 billion, said U.S. News & World Report. Even excluding figures like Elon Musk and onetime GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (both tapped for the misleadingly-named advisory panel called the Department of Government Efficiency), Trump's proposed Cabinet alone is estimated to top $13 billion in net worth. This is thanks to nominees like former WWE executive Linda McMahon, onetime software mogul and current North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), and Wall Street titan Howard Lutnick. Here's what to know about this massive accumulation of executive branch wealth.
Is this unusual or unprecedented?
If confirmed as planned, Trump's will be an "administration of unprecedented, mind-boggling wealth" that would break the record set by his previous term in office by "billions of dollars," Axios said. Although politicians in this country have traditionally "been wealthier than most Americans," Trump's billionaire Cabinet plan marks an "escalation of what's been a consistent feature in American politics," Axios said in a separate article. Although "wealthy Americans who have had successful careers in business have long served in government," said The Washington Post, Trump's "high concentration of ultra-wealthy picks" opens the door for "distinct conflict-of-interest risks" and undercuts the president-elect's populist campaign messaging.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump's second term picks "throws into stark relief the relative impoverishment" of President Joe Biden's Cabinet, said The Guardian, even as Biden was "repeatedly derided by Trump as representative of a corrupt governing elite that was cheating ordinary working Americans." The Biden administration Cabinet, estimated to have a total worth of around $118 million, is "comfortable, sure, but it’s the length of the Acela corridor (and then some) from the $6.2 billion combined net worth of Trump's [first term] crew or the $2.8 billion fortune of Barack Obama's second-term team," said Forbes.
This is "not something we've seen in modern times," said Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Executive Director Noah Bookbinder to The New Republic, although you may find "similar things" if you look "back to the Gilded Age and times of real corruption and real kleptocracy in government."
How could this affect governance?
By tapping billionaires to "lead key economic departments," Trump has raised questions on "whether his administration will follow through on promises to boost the working class," The New York Times said. Although it'd be "foolish" to say that billionaires should be excluded from public service wholesale, Trump's abundance of high net worth nominees stands in contrast to "all the post-election chatter about Democrats and 'elites,'" said MSNBC's Steve Benen.
Trump's stacked nominee slate is an "early test" of his ability to "unite a transformed Republican Party." He will attempt to bring together the party's "populists who say they are focused on elevating the working class" with "business leaders and wealthy donors who have long shaped the party's policies," The Washington Post said.
Among Trump's inner circle, however, the reliance on billionaires is a sign of strength, in which their private sector successes are proof positive of their governmental capacity. "We have billionaires who have created companies now helping to clean up a bad economy, clean up a government where we don't have efficient spending and run the country like they run their businesses much like Donald Trump," Trump attorney and newly named counselor to the president Alina Habba said to Fox News. "That's why he is a billionaire."
Ultimately, warned Bookbinder to The New Republic, there are "two major problems" that come with an administration packed with billionaires. "One is very specific conflicts of interest," in which officials may be given responsibilities that overlap with their personal wealth. More generally, "you want to have a government that looks out for the American people." With billionaires at the helm, there's a "real risk that that government is going to broadly govern for the benefit of the very wealthy rather than in the interest of regular people."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Today's political cartoons - March 30, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - strawberry fields forever, secret files, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 hilariously sparse cartoons about further DOGE cuts
Cartoons Artists take on free audits, report cards, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Following the Tea Horse Road in China
The Week Recommends This network of roads and trails served as vital trading routes
By The Week UK Published
-
Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
The Explainer Trump is not the only US president who has tried to gain control of Greenland
By The Week UK Published
-
Why is Musk targeting a Wisconsin Supreme Court race?
Today's Big Question His money could help conservatives, but it could also produce a Democratic backlash
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
What dangers does the leaked Signal chat expose the US to?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The White House's ballooning group chat scandal offered a masterclass in what not to say when prying eyes might be watching
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sets 25% tariffs on auto imports
Speed Read The White House says the move will increase domestic manufacturing. But the steep import taxes could also harm the US auto industry.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why is the US bombing Yemen in the first place?
In the Spotlight The Trump administration's snowballing "Signalgate" scandal has helped refocus public attention onto one of the nation's least-understood military entanglements
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Even authoritarian regimes need a measure of public support — the consent of at least some of the governed'
instant opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster
Speed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The EPA: Let’s forget about climate change
Feature You’ll miss the EPA when it’s been gutted, said former EPA heads
By The Week US Published