EBN- The Guardian newspaper said that US President- elect Donald Trump has gathered enough billionaires and millionaires to fill key positions in his fledgling administration to form a football team.
In a selection process that appears to mock his appeal to working-class voters, Trump has handpicked a group of ultra-wealthy supporters for key positions, which in some cases will give them the power to cut spending on public services used by the poor and most vulnerable, the newspaper reported.
The Guardian reported that at least 11 of Trump’s choices for strategic positions when he returns to the White House next January have either become billionaires themselves, have billionaire spouses or are close to reaching this threshold.
The result will be that this administration will be the richest in American history, with a total wealth that until a few days ago reached $340 billion, before Trump boosted the financial value of that administration by trying to appoint three more billionaires.
Trump’s first government
The newspaper pointed out that their combined wealth easily exceeds Trump’s first government, which he formed after his victory in the 2016 elections, which was at that time the richest government ever, and included the appointment of Rex Trollson, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil oil, as Secretary of State, and Wilbur Ross as Secretary of Commerce, who became rich by restructuring bankrupt companies.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and founder of Tesla and SpaceX, is the wealthiest person in Trump’s cabinet. Musk has been tapped to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, already known by its acronym DOGE, tasked with cutting waste in public spending, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, another tech entrepreneur said to be worth at least $1 billion.
Other candidates for high-profile posts who are still awaiting congressional confirmation include Linda McMahon, the education secretary nominee — and a former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment — whose husband Vince McMahon is worth an estimated $3 billion; North Dakota Gov. and former businessman Doug Burgum, who has been nominated for interior secretary.
Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, who has been nominated for commerce secretary; and Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager and former partner at Soros Investment Management, who has been nominated for treasury secretary.
Their combined wealth alone is $10.7 billion, about $4.5 billion more than the wealth of Trump’s first administration.
