Level of Wealth in Trump Administration 'Unprecedented'

With many Americans wondering where all the money is, they might want to check the pockets of the new Trump cabinet. Quartz reports the 17 people Donald Trump has selected for his cabinet or cabinet-level posts have a combined wealth of more than $9.5 billion. That's more money than the bottom one-third of American households—all 43 million of them—have total. In fact, it would take 120,000 median American households—with a worth of $83,200—to equal the wealth of just the four richest members of Trump's cabinet. The Guardian calls it "the most brazen embrace of big money since the 1980s."

And it's not just happenstance. “I want people that made a fortune! Because now they’re negotiating for you, OK?” Salon quotes Trump as saying during a rally last week. He's certainly getting them. Quartz reports the level of wealth in his cabinet is already "unprecedented" with some spots still left to fill. Critics warn this is a prelude to Trump enacting policies that benefit the richest of the rich to the detriment of middle- and lower-class Americans. “This is a class that dines on lobster steak and caviar every night," a Democracy for America spokesperson tells the Guardian. "They’re not figuring out how to put food on the table. They’re figuring out how to make a few more millions before they go home at night.” (More Donald Trump stories.)