It’s hard to separate President Donald Trump from his vast fortune. It’s part of his identity has a celebrity and, of course, his identity as president.
And it’s a trait also shared with most members of his cabinet. In fact, it’s one characteristic critics often point to when describing the cabinet’s makeup.
During a recent floor speech, Democratic minority leader Charles Schumer said, "In fact, if you add up the net wealth of his cabinet, it has more wealth than a third of the American people total -- close to 100 million people."
PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and gave it a MOSTLY TRUE rating on its Truth-O-Meter.
“Schumer is using a value at this net worth that is the 'how much money they have' and 'how many assets these people in Trump's cabinet have,' minus, their liabilities and the bills they have to pay and, things they owe and so forth,” PolitiFact writer Josh Gillin said.
For that reason, Senator Schumer’s claim received a MOSTLY TRUE rating on the PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter.
SOURCES: Third of American population less wealthy than Trump cabinet
- Quartz, "Trump’s first 17 cabinet-level picks have more money than a third of American households combined", Dec. 15, 2016
- E-mail, Gabriel Zucman, Economist at University of Berkeley, Mar. 7, 2017
- E-mail, Dan Mitchell, Economist at Cato Institute, on Mar. 7, 2017
- NBC News, "Trump’s Cabinet Picks Have a Combined Wealth of $14.5B. How Did They All Make Their Money?", Dec. 7, 2016
- Center for Responsive Politics, Open Secrets, accessed Mar. 8, 2017
- The White House, "The Cabinet", accessed on Mar. 8, 2017
- E-mail, Justin Goodman, National Press Secretary for Sen. Charles Schumer, Mar. 6, 2017
- World Wealth and Income Database, "USA", accessed Mar. 7, 2017
- Congressional Budget Office, "Trends in Family Wealth, 1989 to 2013", Aug. 2016
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2010 to 2013: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances", Sept. 2014
- U.S.Census Bureau, Table 1. Distribution of Net Worth, By Net Worth Quintiles and Selected Characteristics: 2011, accessed on Mar. 10, 2017
- PolitiFact, Do 17 picks for Donald Trump’s Cabinet have a higher net worth than one-third of Americans?, Dec. 30, 2016