US President Donald Trump’s second administration has 57 officials whose declared assets reach $100 million or more, including eight billionaires, according to a new analysis by Public Citizen, a US-based consumer advocacy group.
The combined declared assets of the 57 officials range from $13.9 billion to more than $34.8 billion, based on federal financial disclosure records cited in the report.
The George W Bush and Joe Biden administrations each had five officials whose assets reached $100 million or more, while Barack Obama’s administration had three, according to the Public Citizen analysis.
Trump’s administration has more than 1,000% more officials with assets reaching $100 million or more than either the Bush or Biden administrations, cited the report.
The analysis is based on financial disclosure forms filed with the US Office of Government Ethics (OGE). Public Citizen says the asset ranges come from Form 278 disclosures made available through ProPublica’s searchable database. Campaign donation figures are based on Federal Election Commission records unless otherwise stated.
The figures do not mean that every one of the 57 officials has a confirmed net worth of $100 million or more. The disclosures often provide asset ranges rather than exact values.
Who are the richest officials?
The 57 officials include senior figures at agencies such as the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, Education, Defense, Health and Human Services, Agriculture and State. The group also includes officials connected to the Securities and Exchange Commission, NASA, Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration and Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Seventeen of the 57 are US ambassadors, while the remaining 40 hold senior positions across federal agencies, according to the report.
Among Trump’s 23-member Cabinet, excluding Trump himself, eight members have assets reaching $100 million or more, while six have assets below $1 million.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has a disclosed asset range of $723 million to $1.3 billion. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has a range of $521 million to $784 million, while Education Secretary Linda McMahon has assets ranging from $413 million to $1.3 billion.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has an estimated range of $83 million to $245 million, while Energy Secretary Chris Wright has assets ranging from $71 million to $130 million. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has a reported range of $56 million to $252 million.
Vice President JD Vance, by comparison, has a reported asset range of $6.1 million to $22 million.
Trump himself appears separately in the report’s graphic with an estimated asset range of $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion. He is excluded from Public Citizen’s count of 57 officials.
The report says at least 31 of the 57 officials have declared assets of $100 million or more, while eight have assets reaching $1 billion or more.
Public Citizen’s analysis goes beyond the wealth of the officials and examines whether some of their private financial interests could overlap with their government responsibilities.
One example is Lutnick, who previously served as chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald. Public Citizen says his former business interests were connected to more than 800 companies across areas including financial services, real estate, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, technology, satellites, energy and gaming.
In January 2026, the Commerce Department and USA Rare Earth announced a deal under which the US government would take a 10% stake in the company. Public Citizen says USA Rare Earth raised $1.5 billion through private stock offerings and selected Cantor Fitzgerald, the company Lutnick previously ran, as placement agent.
Lutnick’s sons subsequently took senior roles at Cantor Fitzgerald after he entered government. Public Citizen says this has raised questions over whether his divestment from the company was sufficient to prevent potential conflicts.
The report also examines Treasury Secretary Bessent. Before joining the administration, Bessent ran Key Square Group, a hedge fund investment group.
Public Citizen says Bessent was required to divest certain investments after becoming Treasury secretary but did not meet an April 28, 2025 deadline. The report says he indicated that he would comply by December 15, 2025.
Another example is Stephen Feinberg, who co-founded investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, which has about $70 billion in assets, according to the report.
After Feinberg became Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon announced an investment of more than $90 million in Stratolaunch, a hypersonic flight-test company owned by Cerberus, Public Citizen reported.
Another Cerberus-linked company, M1 Support Services, received at least $784 million in new or modified Pentagon contract awards after Feinberg became Deputy Defense Secretary, according to the report.
Public Citizen report stated Feinberg placed his Cerberus holdings in trusts for his adult children rather than fully divesting, while maintaining a relationship with Cerberus for administrative services.
The organisation uses these cases to raise broader questions about whether wealthy government officials can fully separate their public responsibilities from their private financial interests.
How much did these officials donate to Trump?
The report also examines the relationship between the officials’ wealth, political contributions and appointments.
According to the report, 30 of the 57 ultra-wealthy officials contributed more than $65 million to Trump-affiliated political committees during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
The report highlights several appointments that followed or coincided with major political contributions.
Warren Stephens, Trump’s ambassador to the UK, donated more than $9 million in 2024 and 2025 to various Trump campaign committees, according to Public Citizen. Trump nominated Stephens for the ambassadorial position on December 2, 2024. On the same day, Stephens donated $4 million to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee and another $1 million to Trump’s MAGA super PAC.
Trump nominated Tilman Fertitta as ambassador to Italy on December 21, 2024. Public Citizen says Fertitta donated $1.4 million to Trump campaign committees during the 2024 election cycle, while family members also made large contributions to Trump-aligned committees.
Lutnick donated nearly $9 million to MAGA Inc. between December 2023 and October 2024, according to the report. Trump nominated him as Commerce Secretary on November 19, 2024.
McMahon donated more than $22 million to Trump-affiliated campaign committees during the 2024 election cycle, Public Citizen says. Trump nominated her as Education Secretary on November 19, 2024.
Kelly Loeffler donated more than $5 million to Trump-associated political committees in 2024 and 2025, according to the report. Trump nominated her to lead the Small Business Administration on December 4, 2024, and the Senate confirmed her in February 2025.
Public Citizen does not say that political donations alone prove that any appointment was bought. Its analysis focuses on the scale and timing of donations and appointments and argues that such relationships can create risks for public decision-making.
What does the wealth gap look like?
Public Citizen places the wealth of these officials against broader US household finances.
The organisation cites a nationwide average annual salary of $64,505 and a median household net worth of $192,900.
Against that backdrop, the report argues that the presence of dozens of officials with assets reaching $100 million or more represents an unusually wealthy financial profile for a presidential administration.
Public Citizen report also cites a Brennan Center for Justice poll in which 97% of 2,000 registered voters said government corruption includes officials using their positions for personal gain. Another 94% said corruption includes prioritising the interests of billionaires and large corporations over the public.