How Much Money Does Trump Make in a Year?

As of 12/13/16, Trump makes at least $476 million a year and probably as high as $600 million. That’s straight from his U.S. Government financial disclosure forms, which he could go to jail for falsifying. In fact, the real Trump salary could be even higher. That’s because presidential candidates don’t have to disclose their specific income.

Any income higher than $5 million a year can be listed simply as “Over $5 million.” In many cases, Trump added the exact amounts. For example, Trump checked the box for “over $5 million” for his Trump National Doral golf resort in Miami. He also wrote in “$49,448,432.” However, there are other yearly income streams where Trump left the “over $5 million” intact without further clarification.

How Much Money Does Trump Make in a Year?

How Much Money Does Trump Make in a Year?
How much money Trump makes a year from "employment assets"$433,000,000
How much money Melania Trump makes a year$500,000
How much money Trump makes a year from investments$43,000,000
Total Donald Trump Yearly Salary$476,500,000

How Much Money Does Donald Trump MakeThe table above shows how much money Trump makes in a year. The total annual Trump salary is at least $476 million.

Trump makes at least $433 million a year from “employment assets.” Those are assets Trump manages or works in directly. One example is Trump Ruffin Tower in Las Vegas. In his disclosure forms, Trump lists annual income from the tower at $45.6 million.

Trump is also required to list spouse income. Melania Trump makes about $500,000 a year, most of it from her Melania Marks Skincare company. Trump also makes $43 million a year from investment income like stocks and bonds.

In reality, Trump probably makes more than $476 million a year. That’s because several of his income streams are listed simply as “over $5 million.” It’s likely Trump earns somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 million a year.

Trump money per year breakdown

How Much Money Trump Makes a Year from “Employment Assets”

Trump Salary from Trump Hotel Las Vegas“Employment assets” are those where Trump participates in the business in some way. Trump works directly as chairman, director or president of over 500 corporations. He’s listed as the trustee of 14 different trusts. Each and every one of those companies and trusts contributes in some way to the $433 million a year Trump makes from “employment assets.”

Trump’s biggest income sources are real estate and golf. The table below shows Trump’s top ten highest income streams. The biggest is Trump National Doral golf resort in Miami, Florida. Trump makes over $49 million a year from that resort alone. A close second and third are Trump Ruffin Tower and 40 Wall Street. Trump makes over $43 million a year from each of those properties.

Trump Ruffin Tower, known publicly as The International Trump Hotel Las Vegas, is a 64 floor luxury hotel. Its windows are coated with 24 carat gold.

Ten Biggest Trump Income Sources
Trump Yearly Income
Trump National Doral (Golf) Miami, FL$49,448,432
Trump Ruffin Tower I LLC$45,587,175
40 Wall Street LLC$43,274,281
Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles, CA$21,173,446
Trump Turnberry (golf) Scotland$20,395,000
Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, NJ$16,101,092
Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach, FL$15,567,659
Trump National Golf Club, Washington, DC$14,026,420
Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach FL$12,731,835
Trump National Golf Club, Jupiter, FL$12,400,958

Also see: What is Donald Trump’s Net Worth?

How Much Money Melania Trump Makes in a Year

Melania Trump makes half a million a yearCompared to how much money Trump makes in a year, Melania Trump’s income is chicken feed. Specifically, it’s only a tenth of a percent of what Trump makes. To most Americans however, Melania Trump’s annual salary of around $500,000 would be high stakes indeed.

The reason we know how much Melania Trump makes is that presidential candidates have to reveal spouse incomes. Her biggest earnings source is her Melania Marks skincare company. Trump lists that company’s income at between $100,000 and $1 million per year. Four other corporations in her name list no or very little income.

Melania Trump is a former model and watch designer. She is 45 years old and Yugoslavian by birth. Her skincare products are made with “vitamins and caviar.”

How Much Money Trump Makes Per Year from Investments

Trump investment incomeTrump makes $43 million a year from investments. That’s basically what he earns in interest. Not a bad return, considering most savings accounts pay about $9 in ten years on a $10,000 investment.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Trump holds hundreds of stocks in various companies. It might be more shocking that he owns less than $15,000 in Halliburton stock. He also owns between $1 million and $5 million in Apple stock.

One of Trump’s highest paying investments is a multimillion dollar U.S. T-Bill holding. That investment paid Trump somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million in 2014. Trump also made over $5 million trading Bank of America stock and millions trading stock in Apple, Boeing and Facebook.

Also see: How Much Does Hillary Clinton Make in a Year?

Trump Annual Salary from Speaking Fees

Trump speaking fee moneyHow much does Trump make a year from speaking fees? In 2014 he made about $1.75 million for giving speeches. That seems like a lot until we compare it to Hillary Clinton’s speaking fees. Mrs. Clinton makes about $12 million a year for giving speeches. Clinton gave 52 speeches in a one year period. Trump gave only 7. Speech for speech, Trump makes about 8% more than Hillary Clinton.

In 2014 and 2015, Trump gave three speeches to ACN Inc. He made $450,000 each for those three speeches for a total of $1.35 million. ACN Inc. is a direct sales and marketing company that treats its salespeople as independent business owners. The company has been accused of being predatory toward both its customers and its sales force. Trump’s high dollar speeches were most likely sales force pep talks. Trump has said he knows nothing about the company itself and does not endorse it.

Also see: What is Bernie Sanders’ Net Worth?

Trump Annual Income from Golf

Golf is a huge part of the money Trump makes every year. Trump owns at least part of 15 major golf resorts around the world. The resorts have individual values between $5 million and $300 million. Trump makes anywhere from $1 million to $50 million a year from each resort.

Trump’s top earning golf resort (and his top earning asset) is the Trump National Doral golf property in Miami, FL. That resort earns Trump nearly $50 million a year. Trump makes $21 million a year from the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles and $20 million a year from the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland.

The Doral resort went bankrupt back in 2011. Trump bought it for $150 million. That means Trump makes back what he paid for the resort every three years.

Also see: How Much Money Does the NCAA Make?

Trump Money Per Year from Acting

Trump makes about $17 million a year from acting and TV appearances. The billionaire earned $214 million from work for NBC alone over the past 14 years, by his own count. That includes The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice. He is reported to have earned $3 million for every episode of Celebrity Apprentice. That makes him one of the highest paid TV personalities on Earth.

Trump has earned another $20 million from other acting jobs through the years. That gives him a total TV and movie earnings of $234 million. That would be impressive for any actor, let alone one who sees it as a small side job.

As impressive as it is, Trump’s Apprentice days are over. NBC ended its agreement with Trump after he made inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants.

Also see: How Much Money Do You Make if You Win the Super Bowl?

Trump is Worth…

How much money does Trump make a year compared to ordinary people? As the chart below shows, it would take 1,277 doctors to make as much as Trump. That’s according to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It would take 2,079 lawyers to earn as much as Trump. It would take over 3,000 computer programmers or almost 10,000 waitresses to make as much per year as Trump.

What about minimum wage employees? It would take over 11,000 people working full time minimum wage jobs to make as much money in one year as Donald Trump.

How much money Trump makes a year vs common jobs

Trump is Worth...
Yearly Income
Number Needed to Equal 1 Trump
Doctors$187,2001,277
Lawyers$114,9702,079
Securities Salesperson$72,0703,316
Marketing Managers$123,4501,936
Programmers$77,5503,082
Waitresses$25,0009,560
Fry Cooks$21,12011,316
Nurses$66,6403,586
Police Officers$58,6304,076
Firefighters$45,9705,199

How Much Does Trump Spend Per Year?

The flip side of the “How much does Trump make a year” question is of course, how much does he spend? The president elect makes over $476 million a year, but it’s highly unlikely he keeps all that money. Corporate taxes probably take close to 35% of the total profit. So how much is profit? That depends on Trump’s operating costs. With dozens of hotels and golf resorts around the world plus accompanying staff and supplies, Trump probably spends well more than half of his annual income just keeping his businesses operating.