US President Donald Trump’s re-election has been welcomed with mixed reactions in both the US and internationally. Nonetheless, the expectations over his second term are huge from his supporters, who are mostly people from the working class to whom his campaign was strongly directed.
However, attention quickly switched from the common folk to the billionaires who openly supported President Trump during his inauguration in January 2025. As these wealthy individuals’ net worths skyrocketed in record time, many Americans started wondering how much this would affect the country’s economy, the environment, and public services.
So how much will Trump’s re[-lection boost billionaires’ fortunes, and affect the common folk’s income? Will this mean an increase in taxes? What do economists predict about his second term? Keep watching to find out!
What Will Happen To Billionaires’ Fortunes?
One aspect of Donald Trump’s second rise to the US presidency is that his connections with the wealthy are stronger than in his first term. Granted, President Trump’s decades-long career as a businessman speaks for itself, yet his campaign didn’t fail to promise tending to the needs of the working class through tax cuts and other economic protections.
According to Reuters, those promises effectively gained Trump voters, but that doesn’t mean he left the wealthy behind. His inauguration Day on 20 January 2025 was attended by the richest people in the world, whose fortunes add up to almost $1 trillion when combined.
The concentration of billionaires seated at the front was impossible to ignore, leading Trump’s supporters and detractors to wonder what exactly they were getting out of it. The answer didn’t take long to come, as Bloomberg reported that their fortunes increased by $64 billion only in the inauguration week, with Elon Musk benefitinged from it the most.
This tremendous rise in fortune is the highest Bloomberg has ever recorded in their index’s history, and is explained by the high expectations prompted following President Trump’s promises to decrease tax regulations. This led to a surge in US stocks, and will probably result in a boom orf the USdollar, as Bloomberg explained.
Oil Fortunes Rise
The presence of prominent oil business people in Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration was a giveaway about the topics to be addressed, especially because the then-newly-elected US President affirmed there was an ‘energy emergency’ that needed to be fixed quickly. The fact that he withdrew the country from the climate-conscious Paris Agreement wasn’t very surprising, given Trump’s promises throughout his campaign and his long-time declared disbelief about global warming.
As the 47th US President declared, the country’s advantage over this field lies in the fact that it possesses more oil and gas than any other country, leaving no doubts about the upcoming benefits that will be granted to the energy including oil industry, which pleased some and worried many others. As Time reported in early 2025, it’s unclear what the real impact that the oil and energy incentives would have in both industries due to the limited supply and demand in the market, but that doesn’t mean that his strategies didn’t have any impact right away.
As Time also reported, some of the billionaire individuals who benefited the most from Trump’s economic boost are Harold Hamm and Julia Flesher Koch, both involved in the oil business. Once again, this is unsurprising for those who were aware of Trump’s intentions to fuel the US economy through the decrease of environmental regulations, as his millionaire links to the oil and gas industry were traced since his campaign days.
Who Are the Billionaires Linked to Trump?
Donald Trump’s preference for a liberal economy was never a secret nor a blind promise on his part. His second term’s inauguration event made that plenty clear by having the presence of the wealthiest people on the planet, who weren’t afraid of showing their support for the US 47th President, even accepting a spot in his team.
The most prominent of those is Elon Musk, who by 2025 is not only the richest person in the world but also the billionaire who accompanied Trump the most during his presidential campaign. His support was compensated by a boost in his net worth of $26.5 billion, but also being entrusted with the mission of reducing federal expenses as the new Department of Government Efficiency’s head.
Another wealthy new member of Trump’s Cabinet is Linda McMahon, whose $3 billion net worth gives her enough influence to become Secretary of Education, to implement new policies and steer away from public education expenses. Another important billionaire player in Trump’s economic plans is Doug Burgum, whose role as the interior secretary will ensure that oil and gas companies will have a smooth path.
Although not every billionaire in Trump’s inauguration has a place in his Cabinet, that doesn’t mean that their presence is less relevant. As noted by the media, CEOs such as Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, and Jeff Bezos all had privileged seats at Trump’s inauguration act.
Tax & Tariffs Concerns
While President Donald Trump’s focus on boosting the US economy has been warmly received by wealthy individuals, the massive and overwhelming interest that billionaires have shown in his policies also awakened the concern of the common folks and economists. They worry about what the tax cuts would potentially cause in the overall economy, and to anyone who isn’t rich and would most likely not benefit from it, as is expected to happen, according to the Americans For Tax Fairness organization.
The biggest worry is the cut of social security services and similarly state-funded campaigns in favor of pro-business policies. This isn’t the only Trump move that concerns economists though, as Reuters reported that the implementation of tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China, and possibly the European Union, might disrupt the financial markets.
According to economists, an unstable perception of the policies implemented in this field by Trump’s administration could cause volatility, especially if the tax cuts policies don’t meet the expectations that voters and the market have. They also point out the potential for inflation increase due to the implementation of the aforementioned tariffs.
While the billionaires who are actively supporting Trump’s upcoming economic changes are aware that they’re going to be favored in no time, no one else is expected to receive any huge benefit unless the new US president ends up implementing tax cuts for everyone.
