Nearly 3,200 financial disclosure records obtained and published byProPublicareveal a pattern of significant conflicts of interest across Donald Trump's second-term administration.

The records show cases ranging from a Pentagon deputy secretary who oversees a £119.7 billion ($151 billion) missile defence programme while maintaining a financial relationship with the private equity firm whose portfolio companies are winning contracts on that same project, to a top Justice Department official who shut down federal crypto enforcement while personally holding more than £126,000 ($159,000) in digital assets.

The trove of documents, released byProPublicaon 5 March 2026, covers the finances of more than 1,500 federal officials appointed by Trump, including the president and Vice President JD Vance. The records were obtained through a year-long effort by ProPublica reporters Corey G. Johnson, Brandon Roberts, and Al Shaw to compile and analyse public ethics filings submitted to theOffice of Government Ethics, the federal agency that oversees conflicts of interest across the executive branch, whose director Trump removed earlier this year and which currently operates without either a director or a chief of staff.

The disclosures arrive in a specific regulatory context. On his first day back in office, Trump rescinded anexecutive order signed by President Joe Bidenthat had barred executive branch appointees from working on matters related to their former lobbying clients or topics for two years. Weeks later, Trump fired 17 inspectors general responsible for investigating fraud and corruption across the federal government. Without that architecture of oversight, what the disclosure records reveal has largely gone unchecked.

The most architecturally significant conflict detailed in the ProPublica investigation involves Steve Feinberg, the billionaire co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management who now serves as deputy secretary of defence, the second-highest-ranking official in the Pentagon.

Feinberg oversees the office responsible forGolden Dome for America, Trump's proposed space- and land-based missile defence shield modelled on Israel's Iron Dome system, for which the Defence Department has allocated as much as £119.7 billion ($151 billion). The Pentagon began selecting contractors in December 2025, awarding contracts to more than 2,000 firms.

At least four of those firms are owned by Cerberus or count it as a majority investor: North Wind, Stratolaunch, Red River Technology, and NetCentrics Corp. Feinberg filed ethics paperwork stating that he had divested from Cerberus and its related businesses. Hisfinancial disclosure records, however, contain an unusual provision: he is permitted to continue contracting with the firm for tax compliance, accounting services, and health care coverage, a financial relationship that documents show was given an open-ended extension, at Feinberg's own request, after he had initially committed to finding alternative providers by April 2026.

The Defence Department told ProPublica that Feinberg does not 'have direct responsibility for any Golden Dome acquisitions,' but declined to say whether he or his office had met with any contractor representatives. What is not disputed is that Space Force General Michael Guetlein, who heads the Golden Dome project,reports directly to Feinberg.

Richard Painter, who served as ethics counsel to President George W. Bush, told ProPublica the arrangement 'creates at least a perception of a conflict of interest.' A Cerberus spokesperson said in a statement that Feinberg 'divested his stake in Cerberus and any funds that it manages,' and that the administrative services 'were pre-approved by the Department of War's Ethics Office and the Office of Government Ethics.'

A separate Pentagon official compounds the picture. Marc Berkowitz, confirmed in December 2025 as assistant secretary of defence for space policy, previously worked as a space industry consultant and vice president for strategic planning at Lockheed Martin. During his confirmation hearing, he identified the Golden Dome as one of his top priorities.

Source: International Business Times UK