It has been well established that Donald Trump and his family are exploiting the presidency in unprecedented ways. Others in Trump's orbit – including his historically wealthy Cabinet of billionaires – have also used the administration to enrich themselves. American Bridge 21st Century has launched Wealth Watch to help reporters and voters make sense of the complex and vast financial holdings of officials who have given themselves tax cuts and have simultaneously squeezed working- and middle-class Americans through tariffs, high energy costs, cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, reckless policies, and Trump-glorification projects.
¶ MethodologyWealth Watch is built around U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) and congressional financial-disclosure filings, property records, news reporting, and other sources such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Election Commission. For OGE disclosures, net-asset values are calculated by subtracting the range of liabilities (Part 8) from the ranges of assets (Parts 2, 5, and 6) added together. Since values are reported in ranges, the range for an official's net assets comes from a low end of the highest possible liability total subtracted from the lowest possible asset total to a high end of the lowest possible liability total subtracted from the highest possible asset total. Subsequent amendments and transactions are also factored in, where applicable. Reporting requirements vary by who is filing, with the biggest difference for OGE reports – filed on Form 278e - being that annual reports (i.e.., reports of officials when they are in office) are based on the previous calendar year whereas other reports (e.g., those filed by presidential candidates and nominees to presidentially appointed positions) are based on the previous calendar year and the current calendar year up to the date of filing. Filing periods
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