Atlanta (AP) Incongruence has always been a part of President Donald Trump’s brazen populism: the billionaire politician and businessman is igniting the passions of millions of people who, regardless of the direction of the American economy, could never afford to visit his club in south Florida or live in his Manhattan skyscraper.
With incredibly affluent Americans playing important roles in his government, his second White House is starting to resemble the interior of Mar-a-Lago.
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, is in charge of a brand-new Department of Government Efficiency. The Treasury, Commerce, Interior, and Education departments, NASA, the Small Business Administration, and important diplomatic positions are all slated to be run by billionaires or mega-millionaires.
“He’s bringing in people who have had a lot of success in the private sector,” said Debbie Dooley, a former national organizer for the anti-establishment Tea Party movement and a Trump supporter in early 2015. You want the most experienced brain surgeons if you need brain surgery.
Others express concerns about conflicts of interest that contradict Trump’s promise to fight for women and men who have been neglected in a nation where the median yearly household income is approximately $81,000 and the median household net worth is approximately $193,000.
According to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who worked under President Bill Clinton and has long warned about the country’s growing wealth and wage disparities, it is difficult to imagine how the wealthiest group of Cabinet nominees and White House appointments in history will comprehend the struggles of ordinary working people.
Dooley retorted, “Trump sets the agenda.” They will hear him declare what we often hear on The Apprentice: You’re fired! if they refuse to implement his policies.
Here is a closer look at some of Trump’s selections, their Forbes net worth, and the potential implications of their selections:
Elon Musk
Musk, whose estimated net worth exceeds $400 billion, is the head of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, a special body tasked with cutting federal spending. Concerns over Musk’s possible conflicts in the position have been raised by the close ties his companies have with the government.
McMahon, Linda
Trump appointed McMahon as his secretary of education. She is the spouse of at least $3 billion-rich Vince McMahon.
Many conservatives have urged for the complete elimination of the agency that the former WWE wrestling executive will be leading. McMahon and Trump have supported expanding school choice programs, which direct taxpayer funds toward the tuition of private schools, even though that is a difficult political task. She might also be in charge of carrying out Trump’s plans to stop federal funding from public K–12 and higher education institutions that don’t comply with White House demands to change or eliminate diversity initiatives.
Doug Burgum
With an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, the governor of North Dakota earned his fortune as a software entrepreneur. Trump was impressed by Burgum when he ran unsuccessfully for the GOP’s 2024 presidential candidacy. Burgum’s job as interior secretary would be to carry out Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” pledge, which would make it even simpler for energy firms to access fossil fuel resources, particularly those found on public lands.
Scott Bessent
Although Bessent has not yet been named a billionaire by Forbes, the seasoned hedge fund manager acknowledged on Monday that the Treasury Secretary is undoubtedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He will be important in selling and enacting some of Trump’s major initiatives at Treasury, including lowering taxes on overtime, Social Security payments, and tip income, slapping tariffs on numerous imports, and restoring the 2017 tax cuts that favored businesses and affluent individuals.
Bessent and his other affluent Cabinet designees stand to gain directly from Trump’s tax proposals, according to former Labor Secretary Reich. Bessent’s cautions about the risks of growing U.S. debt and the expense of yearly interest payments to government bond holders are contrasted with Trump’s tax policies, which contributed to the deficit’s expansion during his first term.
Lutnick, Howard
Lutnick, whose estimated net worth is $1.5 billion, has been nominated to be secretary of commerce and is the clear runner-up to lead Treasury. Making his fortune as a financial services CEO, Lutnick is still expected to hold a prominent position that will place him at the forefront of Trump’s anticipated trade conflicts with China and other countries, such as Canada and Mexico. Additionally, Commerce is in charge of a number of organizations, such as the Census Bureau, whose computations are crucial in deciding how much money should be allocated to various federal programs.
Loeffler, Kelly
During her brief tenure on Capitol Hill, the Georgia entrepreneur appointed to head the Small Business Administration was the richest senator. Jeffrey Sprecher, the CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, the publicly traded company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, is Loeffler’s spouse. For the SBA’s typical clients, that is hardly the hub of commerce. As the main go-to resource and voice for small businesses in the country, the organization was established in 1953 and bills itself as the only cabinet-level federal office exclusively focused on small business, offering contracting experience, capital, and guidance.
When members of Congress began receiving briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, Loeffler was the target of ethical charges over suspected insider trading connected to financial trades she and her husband made. Weeks before the pandemic sent markets into a tailspin, the trades took place. Subsequent investigations by the Senate and Justice Department revealed no misconduct on Loeffler’s behalf.
Isaacman, Jared
Through Musk’s company, SpaceX, Isaacman, another millionaire in the financial services industry, became the first affluent person to go on a space walk. Given that billionaires like Musk and Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, are now competing in the space industry, which was formerly the purview of the federal government and the organization that Isaacman would manage as NASA administrator, this decision, more than any other, demonstrates Trump’s preference for the affluent private sector.