Financial disclosure forms released by the Trump administration show, as expected, that many of President Trump’s senior advisers amassed millions in successful careers before joining the White House.
Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, and daughter Ivanka have assets valued at more than $200 million. Mr. Kushner, who ran his family’s real-estate company, divested from dozens of holdings to avoid potential conflicts of interest when he joined the administration and resigned from more than 260 positions on various boards and other posts.
Ivanka Trump reported a stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, a share valued between $5 million and $25 million. The documents showed that she earned between $1 million and $5 million from her share of the hotel in 2016 and part of 2017. She announced last week she is taking an unpaid position as an adviser to her father.
Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council and a former top executive at Goldman Sachs, held assets valued at $252 million to $611 million when he joined the White House. He is one of the wealthiest White House employees.
Chief presidential strategist Stephen Bannon held assets of between $10.7 million and $48.6 million when he joined the administration, and earned at least $1.4 million in 2016.
Mr. Bannon, former head of Breitbart, also received income from Cambridge Analytica, a data company tied to conservative political donors Robert and Rebekah Mercer.
Mr. Bannon has “an agreement in principle” to sell his stake in Cambridge, according to his disclosure form.
Reed Cordish, another top White House aide, had assets worth at least $197 million.
White House Counsel Don McGahn II had income of $2.4 million last year as a partner at the Jones Day law firm.
The White House said the wealth of some of Mr. Trump’s aides demonstrates their personal sacrifice in coming to work for the administration.
“The president has brought a lot of people into this administration, into this White House, in particular, who have been very blessed and very successful by this country and have given up a lot to come into the government by setting aside a lot of assets,” said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Said another White House official, “These are incredibly successful people with very high net worths.”
The financial disclosures are being released for about 180 top White House staffers who earn more than $161,000 per year.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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