What the Forbes Numbers Show
Forbes’ analysis shows Trump’s wealth at the highest point of his career. His 2025 net worth of $7.3 billion is the biggest figure the magazine has ever recorded for him. It has slipped by about $300 million since then, but it is still far above the earlier high of $4.5 billion, which was set in 2015. That means the 2025 figure was $2.8 billion higher than his previous best.
Vance Pushes Back
Vance addressed the issue directly during his conversation with Halperin. He rejected the argument that holding the nation’s top office had made Trump or his relatives richer. In his telling, the family was already very wealthy and ended up worse off after Trump’s first term.
Looking at the whole stretch, from the first administration through the four years out of office and into the second term, Vance said he couldn’t see how politics had enriched the family. He described the Trumps’ lives and their business as having been nearly destroyed, and he pointed to the legal fights Trump has faced. Vance said there had been efforts to put the President behind bars for something like 900 years, so he saw no upside for the family in all of this.
“Absolutely” Gross, But Not This President
Vance did not claim Washington is free of people looking to profit from public service. He conceded that plenty of people in the capital try to get rich through politics, called that behavior gross, and said the administration’s job is to stop anyone from making money off access to the President.
He insisted, however, that this isn’t a worry when it comes to Trump himself. He said the President had nearly seen his life wrecked by his push for the presidency, which Vance framed as an effort to do good for the American people.
The President’s Sons
Asked specifically about Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, Vance said he wouldn’t expect them to stop earning a living. For him, the real question is whether they are selling access to their father, and he said he doesn’t believe they are.
The Trumps’ youngest son, Barron, is 20 and studying at New York University. He has only recently begun moving into the business world, much as his father and brothers did before him.
Vance closed by saying the President is entitled to earn a living and go about his life. Whether Trump is profiting from his office is the issue that matters, he said, and he claimed he has seen no evidence that he is.
Social Media Isn’t Buying It
Reaction online was fast and mostly scornful. One X user said Vance seemed to think people were gullible enough to accept his argument. Another said every American should feel insulted when an elected official tries to sell them this line, and urged people to vote as a reminder that politicians work for the public.
A third user accused Vance of treating Americans as fools for not noticing the growth in the Trump family’s fortune. Others kept it short. One wrote that bank balances and contracts don’t lie, and another simply called him a buffoon.
The Bottom Line
The exchange shows how divided opinion remains over the Trump family’s finances. Vance says the presidency has cost them more than it has paid, while Forbes’ figures show a fortune at or near record levels, and many online critics aren’t persuaded by the vice president’s defense.
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