Trump administration has 57 officials worth at least $100m, report finds
Public Citizen says the number is more than four times the combined total of the three previous administrations
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Trump administration has 57 officials worth at least $100m, report finds
Photograph: Washington Top News (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Public Citizen’s report states 57 officials in Donald Trump’s administration are worth at least $100 million, including 17 ambassadors and 40 senior officials.
- The number is more than four times the combined total of the three previous administrations (Bush, Obama, Biden).
- Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen warned that a government dominated by the ultra-rich could lead to misplaced incentives and corruption.
- No right-rated outlet carried the story, according to the reports below.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 13 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 14 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
96/100
Craft
87/100
Hype
30/100
14 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 1 of the 13 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
A report by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen found that 57 officials in Donald Trump’s administration are worth at least $100 million. The figure includes 17 ambassadors and 40 senior officials across the executive branch, as reported by the Associated Press and Washington Top News.
The report states that the number of ultra-rich officials in the Trump administration is more than four times the combined total of the three previous presidents. George W. Bush and Joe Biden each had five officials worth $100 million or more, while Barack Obama had three, according to Public Citizen.
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, said the concentration of wealth among officials raises concerns about whose interests the government serves. "When the people holding the reins of government are drawn overwhelmingly from the ranks of the ultra-rich, it leads to misplaced incentives and corruption," she said, as quoted by the Associated Press and Washington Top News.
The report does not include Trump, whose net worth Forbes estimates at over $6 billion, or Elon Musk, who advised Trump on reducing the federal government’s size and scope. Musk’s net worth is estimated at about $860 billion.
What the coverage left out
No right-rated outlet ran the story, according to the reports printed below. None of the digests or full reports mentioned the specific policies Trump has pursued that could benefit wealthy officials, such as tax cuts or deregulation, beyond Washington Top News’s brief reference to them.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 6 times, most recently on 17 Aug 2026, 15:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
7 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports led on the scale of the disparity between the Trump administration and its predecessors. The Associated Press and Washington Top News both highlighted that the 57 officials worth at least $100 million in Trump’s administration exceed the combined total of Bush, Obama and Biden. The Seattle Times, Seattle Pi and The Hamilton Spectator carried digests that repeated the same figure.
- The Associated Press and Washington Top News quoted Lisa Gilbert’s warning about misplaced incentives and corruption. Both outlets also named specific officials, including Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg and Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, all billionaires.
Centre
5 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports also led on the comparison with previous administrations. Audacy, WKMG, The Record and the Winnipeg Free Press carried digests stating that the number of officials worth over $100 million in Trump’s administration is more than four times the combined total of the three previous presidents. Washington Top News’s full report included the same comparison and named the same officials as the Associated Press.
- Washington Top News added context on Trump’s justification for appointing wealthy officials, quoting his view that financial success demonstrates competence. It also noted that only 32% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy as of last month, down from 40% at the start of his second term.
Right
1 rated outlet
We have not written our reading of the right coverage of this story. The right-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.
Read it at the source
14 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
7- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens The Toronto Star in a new tab)
The Toronto Star — is The Toronto Star biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in White House, report shows (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
The Seattle Times — is The Seattle Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens Seattle Pi in a new tab)
Seattle Pi — is Seattle Pi biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens Associated Press News in a new tab)
Associated Press News — is Associated Press News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens WellandTribune.ca in a new tab)
WellandTribune.ca — is WellandTribune.ca biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens The Record in a new tab)
The Record — is The Record biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens The Hamilton Spectator in a new tab)
The Hamilton Spectator — is The Hamilton Spectator biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
5- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens Washington Top News in a new tab)
Washington Top News — is Washington Top News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel in a new tab)
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens Audacy in a new tab)
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens WKMG in a new tab)
- Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows (opens Winnipeg Free Press in a new tab)
Winnipeg Free Press — is Winnipeg Free Press biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
1Not rated
1Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Trump administration has 57 officials worth at least $100m, report finds?
- Of the 13 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 54% are rated left, 38% are rated centre, 8% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 14. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Trump administration has 57 officials worth at least $100m, report finds left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 13 rated outlets on this story, 54% are rated left, 38% are rated centre, 8% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Trump administration has 57 officials worth at least $100m, report finds biased?
- Trump administration has 57 officials worth at least $100m, report finds is one event reported by 14 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Trump administration has 57 officials worth at least $100m, report finds?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Trump administration has 57 officials worth at least $100m, report finds?
- 14 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- How many officials in Trump’s administration are worth at least $100 million?
- Public Citizen’s report states 57 officials in Donald Trump’s administration are worth at least $100 million. This includes 17 ambassadors and 40 senior officials across the executive branch, as reported by the Associated Press and Washington Top News.
- How does this compare to previous administrations?
- The number of ultra-rich officials in Trump’s administration is more than four times the combined total of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Bush and Biden each had five officials worth $100 million or more, while Obama had three, according to Public Citizen.
- Which outlets reported on the story?
- The story was reported by four left-rated outlets (Associated Press, Seattle Times, Seattle Pi, The Hamilton Spectator) and five centre-rated outlets (Washington Top News, Audacy, WKMG, The Record, Winnipeg Free Press). No right-rated outlet carried it, according to the reports below.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
