Trump plummets 138 places on Forbes list of richest Americans

US president’s net worth estimated at $3.1bn (£2.39bn) in 2018

Donald Trump has plummeted 138 places on Forbes’ list of the wealthiest people in the US.

The US president’s net worth has been estimated at $3.1bn (£2.39bn) in 2018, making the 72-year-old the 259th richest person in America, according to the business magazine.

Despite expectations the presidency would make Mr Trump richer, the sum represents a marked decline from his estimated net worth of $4.5bn (£3.46bn) in 2015, the year before he entered the White House.

The annual Forbes 400 identified three major reasons the president’s fortune had dwindled in recent years.

It said the core of Mr Trump’s fortune is tied up in a handful of buildings in and around downtown Manhattan, an area where luxury real estate values have fallen in recent months.

It also suggested Mr Trump had lost as much as $200m (£154m) due to how his presidency has affected the Trump brand. Part of the hit included an estimated 9 per cent drop in revenue at the president’s golf courses in 2017, his first year in office.

Trump National Doral, by far the biggest of Mr Trump’s 12 golf resorts, reportedly lost 100,000 booked room nights after the election. While the luxury hotel market in Miami rose 4 per cent in 2017, the Doral’s revenues fell by an estimated 16 per cent, the magazine said.

Forbes also suggested the drop was partially down to doubts over Mr Trump’s past claims about his wealth.

Mr Trump’s finances have long been a source of controversy, with the president breaking a precedent set by his predecessors by refusing to fully divest from his business empire after winning the election.

He instead transferred his assets to a trust partly run by two of his sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr.

The billionaire also refused to make public his tax returns while fighting for the presidency, another departure from recent norms among presidential nominees.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump dropped a place in Forbes’ annual list of the world’s most powerful people. He was bumped to third, behind Chinese president Xi Xinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, after finishing second in 2017.