The Trump administration is currently operating at historic levels of opacity, dodging protocol and FOIA requests designed to hold the president and his staff accountable to the public. But there’s one measure of transparency that staffers who have ridden the pipeline from Fox News to the executive branch haven’t been able to avoid: financial disclosure forms. These documents are required for anyone working in the White House, which is ironic considering that the president refuses to release details about his own financial well-being.
Nearly a dozen of these forms obtained by The Hollywood Reporter show how much Trump officials made while working at Fox News. At the intersection of salary gossip and pertinent insight into the Fox News–to–White House feedback loop, the financial disclosures show a wide range of compensation, from Sebastian Gorka’s $4,320 for one month of commentary as a “counter-terrorism strategist” to John Bolton’s $569,423 payout prior to his role as national security adviser. Here’s how much various Trump administration figures are pulling in:
John Bolton, $569,423
Current national security adviser and former Fox News contributor
Heather Nauert, $485,000
Former State Department spokesperson, former Fox & Friends anchor
Scott Brown, $175,000
Current ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, former Fox News contributor
Anthony Scaramucci, $88,461
White House communications director for 11 days, former Fox News contributor
Richard Grenell, $80,000
Current ambassador to Germany, former Fox News contributor
Tony Sayegh, $72,851
Current Treasury Department assistant secretary, former Fox News contributor
K.T. McFarland, $63,518
Former deputy national security adviser, former Fox News contributor
Sebastian Gorka, $4,320 (for one month)
Former deputy assistant to the president, former Fox News strategist
Georgette Mosbacher, $31,336
Current ambassador to Poland, former Fox News contributor
Fox News remains an important incubator for the president’s haphazard policy initiatives. As last week’s New Yorker exposé attests, it can be more productive for Trump officials to promote their vision on Fox News than to have a head-to-head with the president in person. After resigning, Bill Shine, the former co-president of the channel who enjoyed a salary of $1.46 million, reportedly said that he believes he could exert more influence over the president from a position outside the White House.
