Half a dozen of Trump's top appointees were direct or indirect donors to his election

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last updated 9 December 2016

Donald Trump and his allies spent the bulk of the presidential campaign criticizing the "donor class," but at least six of Trump's top appointees so far have been direct or indirect contributors to his campaign, Adam Smith of the nonprofit political advocacy group Every Voice pointed out on Twitter:

Andrew Puzder, who was selected by Trump as labor secretary Thursday, "gave $10,000 to pro-Trump super PAC Rebuilding America Now in August," CNBC reports. "He also donated $75,000 to a Trump joint fundraising committee with the Republican Party and gave the maximum $2,700 to Trump's campaign in May." Steven Mnuchin, Trump's treasury secretary, is also a donor, having given $2,700 to Trump's presidential campaign. Trump's secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross Jr., is described as a "donor and longtime associate of Trump's," by NPR. Additionally, Ross "helped [Trump] resurrect his casino company after it went bankrupt in the early 1990s." And the Chicago Tribune reports that Todd Ricketts' family spent "$1 million to back Trump's presidential bid." Ricketts was recently tapped for deputy commerce secretary.

Betsy DeVos, who is Trump's pick for education secretary, is described by The New Yorker in such a way: "It would be hard to find a better representative of the 'donor class' than DeVos, whose family has been allied with Charles and David Koch for years." Finally, Linda McMahon, whom Trump named Wednesday as the head of the Small Business Administration, donated $6 million to Trump's super PAC, Rebuilding America Now, in August and September, The Washington Post reports.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.