Donald Trump's wealth plummets by $600m as coronavirus pandemic hits hotels and resorts

Trump's businesses have been badly hit by the pandemic
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Luke O'Reilly8 September 2020

President Donald Trump's wealth has dropped by $600m after the coronavirus pandemic slammed his office buildings, hotels and resorts, according to Forbes magazine.

Meanwhile, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos topped Forbes' list of richest Americans for the third year in a row.

The aggregate wealth of the Forbes 400 list rose to a record $3.2 trillion, as the richest Americans continued to do well despite the devestating economic effects of the pandemic. More than 1.8 million Americans have lost their jobs since the start of the outbreak.

Eric Yuan, chief executive officer of Zoom Video Communications, which has become ubiquitous in the work-from-home era, was one of 18 newcomers on the list with a net worth of $11 billion.

Trump's wealth has sunk by over half a billion
via REUTERS

The US President's ranking dropped to No. 352 from 275 last year as his net worth fell to $2.5 billion from $3.1 billion.

The Trump Organisation's property portfolio includes office buildings, hotels and resorts, all of which have suffered from the effects of the pandemic.

Mr Trump has long refused to release his tax records, and has been locked in a battle with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who subpoenaed Trump for eight years of personal and corporate returns.

It comes as Mr Trump publicly thanked Boris Johnson for his support.

On Tuesday the US presdident tweeted a reference to a newspaper article saying the Prime Minister had praised Mr Trump while he was foreign secretary in 2017.

The Telegraph piece said Mr Johnson had told US diplomats that President Trump was living up to his campaign slogan to "make America great again".

The Mar-a-Lago Club is one of Trump's many resorts 
AFP via Getty Images

Mr Trump responded to the report by stating that he was "working great together" with the UK leader.

Along with a link to the article, President Trump tweeted: "Thank you Boris, working great together!"

The newspaper piece quoted Mr Johnson as telling the American ambassador to the UK that Mr Trump was doing "fantastic stuff" on foreign affairs as president.

Mr Trump appears to have enjoyed a closer relationship with Mr Johnson than with his predecessor in Number 10, Theresa May.

The newspaper piece reported that the then-foreign secretary's praise of Mr Trump was revealed in leaked notes of the meeting.

Mr Johnson told US officials that Mr Trump was becoming "increasingly popular" in Britain, according to the report.