As Donald Trump fumes about dropping off the Forbes 400 list, three of his top supporters are genuinely struggling for cash.

Read on to find out why the Trump-loving trio are said to have "lost everything" – and why they're paying the price for staying loyal to the 45th.

All dollar amounts in US dollars.

Steve Bannon was a supporter of Trump from the get-go. Leaving his job as chairman of the far-right commentary site Breitbart News, he was made the chief executive of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Following Trump’s electoral success, Bannon was rewarded with the role of senior counselor and chief strategist to the President-elect.

His political career came to an abrupt end in August 2017, shortly after a white supremacist and neo-Nazi "Unite the Right" rally unleashed violence on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia and led to the death of an anti-fascist protester. When the events came to international attention, Trump’s response was to blame "both sides" – predictably sparking outrage – and Bannon was flatly blamed for this poor choice of words.

Known for his inflammatory remarks, controversy seems to follow him wherever he goes, and the end of his political career has done little to stop him from being outspoken. Bannon's Twitter account was permanently suspended in November 2020 after he suggested that the federal government's leading infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray should both be executed.

Bannon has also been dogged by a slew of legal challenges since exiting the White House. He and three others were arrested and charged in August 2020 with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering in relation to the pro-Trump We Build the Wall campaign.

Conveniently for Bannon, he was then pardoned by Trump ahead of the trial but, a year later, was held in contempt of US Congress after he refused to show up for a hearing of the House of Representatives committee investigating the Capitol attack. He went on to be convicted by a jury trial last July, and that October was sentenced to four months in federal prison and fined $6,500. 

If Bannon serves his jail sentence, he'll be the first person to go to jail for contempt of Congress in more than 50 years. However, his punishment has been suspended pending an appeal, which his lawyers filed in early November 2022.

He may have avoided jail (for now, at least) but Bannon has no shortage of problems. Next May he faces his own New York fraud trial relating to his involvement with the We Build the Wall campaign, while his lawyer Robert Costello has dropped him as a client and reportedly filed a claim for $480,000 in unpaid legal fees. 

Facing increasing financial and legal difficulty, Bannon – who has compared the prosecutors investigating Trump to "Nazi judges" – is widely expected to lose his ongoing appeal. Speaking to The Guardian, former attorney Barbara McQuade has said "I think Bannon's conviction is on very solid ground", while ex-prosecutor Paul Rosenzweig made the damning judgement: "Bannon has almost no chance of overturning his conviction. He's manifestly guilty."

Mike Lindell, the CEO of pillow brand MyPillow, was appointed chair of Trump's re-election campaign in Minnesota in 2020. He later became one of the biggest financiers of the former president's alleged attempt to overturn the election result. According to Reuters, Lindell's fiscal support included paying for a two-week "March for Trump" bus tour. 

Like Bannon, the self-styled "MyPillow Guy" has since been plagued with legal difficulties. Last September, his phone was seized as part of ongoing investigations into the Capitol riots and attempts to overturn the 2020 election. He revealed in a video that FBI agents had intercepted him at a Hardee's drive-thru in Mankato, Minnesota, recalling: "We pull ahead and a car comes perpendicular and parks a little ways in front of us, and I've been around the block, and I said to my buddy, I said, 'uh that's either a bad guy, or it's FBI.'"

Lindell also said he was questioned about Colorado clerk Tina Peters, who was accused of letting someone break into her county's election system to verify Trump's claims that the 2020 election result was falsified. A week later, Lindell sued the FBI, claiming the incident amounted to "unlawful detention."

It's not clear what the current status of the lawsuit is, although he did lose a court bid to reclaim his phone. However, Lindell hit headlines again earlier this year when he promised to pay $5 million to anyone who could disprove data that he claimed confirmed the existence of election fraud in 2020. Software expert Robert Zeidman did just that and launched legal proceedings against Lindell when he refused to pay up. The courts later ordered the CEO to fulfill his promise, with the ruling coming just a month after Lindell revealed he'd been forced to borrow $10 million to cover his legal fees.

Lindell's money troubles have been exacerbated by his struggling business. This year the IRS has reportedly launched five audits into MyPillow, which was dropped by major retailers in the wake of Lindell's comments about election fraud. This "massive, massive cancellation" of orders cost the company over $100 million.

And things have gone from bad to worse, as it's now being reported that Lindell has "lost everything, every dime" and has been dropped by his lawyers. 

Speaking to NBC News, Lindell revealed he's no longer able to pay the attorneys who have represented him in three defamation cases related to comments he made about the supposedly 'stolen' 2020 election. The lawyers, who work for law firm Parker Daniels Kibort, said: "At this time, Defendants are in arrears by millions of dollars to PDK. PDK is a small litigation and trial firm in Minneapolis, MN and cannot afford to finance Defendants' defense in the Litigations."

Lindell has described his lawyers as "brave and courageous" and said he would keep paying them if he could. He's currently in the "process of finding new counsel."

And Bannon and Lindell aren't the only Trump supporters whose funds are running dry. Globally lauded for his strong leadership as mayor of New York City in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and for the role he played in reducing the Big Apple's violent crime rates, Rudy Giuliani's reputation has taken quite the tumble since he was appointed President Trump's personal attorney in April 2018.

On top of corruption allegations, the leading lawyer has been slammed for falsely claiming that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden, and for calling for "trial by combat" at a rally preceding the January 6 attack on the Capitol. As a result, Giuliani – whom Trump praised during his Lincoln Day Dinner keynote speech – has seen his license to practice law in New York and DC suspended.

And Giuliani's legal issues have only worsened this year. He was named as a co-conspirator in the Georgia investigation into election interference, and has been sued for sexual harassment and wage theft by a former employee (who alleged that Giuliani and Trump sold presidential pardons for $2 million each). 

He's also been ordered to pay $89,000 to two Georgia election workers who sued him for defamation in 2020. More recently, just like Bannon, Giuliani has been sued by his former lawyer Robert Costello for unpaid legal bills totaling $1.36 million, and rumors are circulating that he's been left "penniless" as a result.

Now the IRS has claimed Giuliani owes $549,435.26 in unpaid income taxes from 2021. The former mayor's Palm Beach penthouse, which is worth around $4.5 million, has become collateral in the case after being placed under a lien back in August. The same month, Giuliani put his $6.5 million Manhattan apartment up for sale, fueling speculation that his money troubles were worsening. 

Although he's apparently not proven the state of his financial situation to the judges overseeing his cases, he's not shied away from discussing his lack of cash in the courtroom – or in the media. Trump has been widely criticized for failing to cover his co-defendant and friend's legal fees, but last month he did host a $100,000-per-person fundraising event at Mar-a-Lago to drum up money. The event was expected to raise around $1 million, a figure Giuliani's son Andrew described as "very helpful" but "[not] enough to get through this."

That said, Giuliani's money woes haven't discouraged him from launching legal action against President Biden for calling him a "Russian pawn."

Despite the eyewatering cost of supporting Donald Trump and the consequences of backing his "rigged election" claims, Bannon, Lindell, and Giuliani aren't alone in their commitment to the 45th.

From three women tipped to become Trump's VP to the QAnon Shaman, read on to meet some of Donald Trump's most high-profile supporters right now...

Most recently tipped for the role of Trump's running mate is South Dakota governor Kristi Neom (pictured). Described as a "warrior for American values" by Trump, who has previously shared a stage with her underneath a "Trump Neom 2024" screen, Neom has said she would accept the position of VP "in a heartbeat." 

The mother-of-three is considered one of America's most conservative governors. Neom refused to impose restrictions during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has even told the media that her two-year-old granddaughter "already has a shotgun and she already has a rifle and she's got a little pony named Sparkles too. So the girl is set up."

Unsurprisingly, Neom has been vocal in her support of Trump, endorsing him for president rather than launching her own campaign bid this year. At an event to celebrate July 4 at Mount Rushmore in 2020, she presented the then-POTUS with a four-foot replica of the iconic landmark with one major twist – it also included his face alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

Neom is no stranger to controversy. As well as her contentious comments about gun rights, the 51-year-old politician and champion of traditional family values has been accused of having an affair with Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Neom has staunchly denied the rumors.

Unlike Neom, South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace has had a fractured relationship with Donald Trump. The 45th has previously described her as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and "grandstanding loser." At the same time, Mace has said that Trump "is no fan of mine" and "primaried [her]" in 2022 by endorsing her opponent in the Republican nomination contest. But recent reports suggest the pair have reconciled. 

Although Mace spoke out against the Capitol riots in January 2021, she came to Trump's defense after his first two indictments. Speaking to Fox News, she described the investigations as "unfair" and has since confirmed to POLITICO that she would back Trump if he wins the GOP nomination.

"We can't afford four more years of Joe Biden," she said. "I'm willing to bury the hatchet to save the country, and I know President Trump is too."

So how far could this newfound loyalty go? Although aides for both politicians have said there's been no recent coordination between the two, rumors abound that Mace could be Trump's 2024 running mate. She previously worked for the Trump campaign in 2016, so a collaboration wouldn't be unprecedented.

Meanwhile, Mace – who, according to POLITICO, has called for easier access to birth control and the legalization of abortion up to 20 weeks – has publicly supported Trump's abortion policy.

"The only candidate that I've seen articulate a message in that regard, that I think is more reasonable, is Donald Trump," she said. "So imagine my surprise, you know, seeing that I agree more with him than many of the other candidates."

But Mace might have some competition on her hands. Long-term Trump supporter Kari Lake has also been tipped as a potential running mate, with reports from the former president's ex-lawyer claiming she's been "couch-surfing" at Trump's Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago. 

Taking to Twitter, attorney Jenna Ellis wrote: "[Kari Lake is] couch-surfing at her friend's house like a bum college dropout." Lake's campaign has hit out against the allegations, claiming: "This is a ridiculous story... Kari Lake often speaks at events all over the country in support of America First candidates and organizations; and when she does have the honor of being invited to speak at the beautiful Mar-a-Lago, she overnights at Hilton properties in Palm Beach with her loving husband of 25 years."

Lake hasn't held back from defending Trump, either. In the wake of Trump's second indictment, the wannabe Arizona governor said prosecutors who "want to get to President Trump [are] going to have to go through me and 75 million Americans just like me. And most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA [National Rifle Association]."

She later amended her statement, saying she believed it was nearer 300 million Americans. The total US population is around 334 million.

It's since been reported that Lake is running for a seat in the Senate, kicking off her campaign in Scottsdale, Arizona on October 10. Trump has given her his full support.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene made headlines back in August when she claimed "my name is on a list" of potential vice presidents. In the run-up to the first Republican debate in Milwaukee, Greene added: “I’d have to think about it and consider it. It’s talked about frequently and I know my name is on a list but really my biggest focus right now is serving the district that elected me.” (She's currently the representative for Georgia's 14th district.)

Even among Republicans, Greene's support is slim. According to polls, just 1% of people who voted for Trump in 2020 would name Greene as their preferred running mate, while lawyer George Conway – the former husband of Trump's 2017-2020 Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway – has said that a Trump-Greene victory would represent "the sociopath party ticket," and that "she absolutely would play to his worst instincts."

Greene is such a controversial figure that many people believe Trump wouldn't risk staking his campaign on her.

But Greene is undoubtedly a vocal supporter of the former POTUS, publicly decrying the validity of the 2020 election and attempting to impeach Joe Biden shortly after he took office. Most recently, she's been calling for him to replace Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, making the potentially ominous claim that the "House chamber will be like a Trump rally everyday!!"

She's pictured here at a pro-Trump rally outside a New York criminal court on April 4 this year.

Jacob Chansley – also variously known as the QAnon Shaman, Jacob Angeli and Yellowstone Wolf – became the face of the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, when he was photographed wearing a distinctive horned headdress. The protester and conspiracy theorist was charged with obstructing an official proceeding, the certification of Joe Biden's victory, in September of that year and sentenced to 41 months in jail. He was released early in May 2023, meaning his jail term was cut short by 14 months.

Prior to his incarceration, Chansley's lawyer had sought a pardon from then-president Donald Trump, saying he should do the "honorable thing and pardon those of his peaceful followers who accepted the president's invitation" to protest the results of the 2020 election. When Trump refused to grant a pardon, attorney Albert Watkins said Chansley "regrets very very much having not just been duped by the President, but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position to make decisions he should not have made."

Chansley may regret having been "duped" by Donald Trump, but in a recent interview on Britain's Sky News, the former QAnon Shaman – sporting a much less distinctive outfit – was strikingly reluctant to criticize the former POTUS. The convicted felon stressed that Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to go to the Capitol "peacefully" and, contrary to his lawyer's claims, refused to say whether he regrets his actions: "We all have regrets in life, sir. But if we live in the past and we allow our regrets to weigh down our minds and our hearts, then we can not spiritually ascend. We cannot become better men, better women."

Chansley went on to make the explosive claim that the indictment could backfire on prosecutors as it would surface evidence that was previously not in the public domain. He said: "This may end up snapping back on the people that are pressing these charges, because now it all is going to be out in the open and the very real evidence that there was fraudulent or rigged certain portions of the election."

His apparent refusal to condemn Donald Trump stands in stark contrast to his lawyer's 2021 claim that Chansley was prepared to testify against the then-president in his second impeachment trial

Earlier this year Donald Trump was the "distinguished" keynote speaker at the Lincoln Day Dinner hosted by Republicans in Oakland County, Michigan. Held in the city of Novi, the dinner was organized to raise funds for the Oakland County Republican Party (OCRP), with tickets ranging in price from $250 to a staggering $7,500, according to The Oakland Press.

During the sold-out event, Donald Trump received the OCRP's Man of the Decade award. The former president said he was "deeply honored" to have been given it "for the second time" and claimed he was also named Man of the Decade in 2013, although The Oakland Press has described the 2023 award as "inaugural." 

It's not clear whether Trump has actually received the award before, but it's true he spoke at the 2013 OCRP Lincoln Day Dinner. A decade ago the event drew a crowd of 2,192 people, while this year's event is believed to have hosted more than 2,500.

The OCRP has very little information about the Man of the Decade award on its website. But according to a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, the chair of the Lincoln Day Dinner said: "Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is the keynote speaker and he is the most infamous person on the planet right now."

Trump addressed his ongoing legal issues in his speech, describing his indictments as a "badge of honor and courage". He added: "Essentially I'm being indicted for you, 200 million people that love our country."

Political consultant and senior advisor to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, Susie Wiles has been credited with helping the former president win Florida in both 2016 and 2020.

A source close to Trump has claimed he chose her for the senior position in his current campaign after "several people" recommended her, saying she wouldn't accept the position purely to enrich herself. Sure enough, Wiles reportedly only asked for her travel expenses to be covered when she started the job in March 2021.

Wiles has previously worked for Trump's archrival Ron DeSantis, but the relationship turned sour in 2019 and she was reportedly "bounced" from the governor's 2020 campaign. Some sources have claimed her knowledge of DeSantis could be an asset to Trump's presidential campaign, and the advisor has apparently made herself indispensable to the aspiring 47th.

Speaking to CNN, Michael Caputo, a former Trump employee, said: "It's always, 'Let me get Susie in here' or 'Make sure you tell Susie about that'... She is as steadfast as they come."

New York representative Lee Zeldin has consistently refused to condemn Donald Trump. One of the first people on the scene of the Capitol riots, Zeldin told Fox News on January 6, 2021: "This isn't just about the president of the United States. This is about people on the left and their double standards." He subsequently backed attempts to overturn President Biden's victory.

From volunteering to fight Trump's impeachments to praising his presidential foreign policy, Zeldin has supported Trump since he first entered the political arena. And despite mounting new legal difficulties, he isn't dialing down his support now...

On April 24, less than a month after Trump's first indictment, Zeldin officially endorsed his presidential bid. Announcing the endorsement on Twitter, Zeldin wrote: "The GOP is filled with amazing talent to save our country from the failed policies of the Biden Admin. Our nominee in 2024 will be the 45th & 47th POTUS, Donald Trump.

"Our economy will be stronger, our streets will be safer, & our lives will be freer. He has my full support!" 

Zeldin has previously enjoyed close ties with Ron DeSantis, but although DeSantis has since announced his own bid for presidency Zeldin hasn't renounced his support of Trump.

Another GOP representative who's come out in support of Trump, Texas Republican Lance Gooden has also endorsed Trump's 2024 campaign. 

Gooden made the announcement on Twitter shortly after meeting with Ron DeSantis, who he acknowledged "has done commendable work in Florida," but said after "careful consideration" that "there is no doubt in my mind that President Trump is the only leader who can save America from the leftist onslaught we are currently facing." 

Pictured at the US Capitol with his children in January this year, Gooden added: "I wholeheartedly endorse President Donald J. Trump for the 2024 presidential election and vow to fight alongside him to reclaim our country from the leftist forces that threaten to destroy it. Together, we will ensure a prosperous and secure future for our great nation."

The politician has since played a key role in the investigation into Crossfire Hurricane, the codename for the FBI's own investigation into Trump's potential links to Russia during his 2016 campaign. Gooden questioned Special Counsel Robert Durham, who was hired by the Trump administration to investigate the probe, and concluded: "There was in fact... no Russian involvement with the Trump campaign. And the just constant lies that we've seen from the other side, in the effort to take down President Trump before he even took office – for it to finally come out many years later, is I think redeeming but also very sad.

"I am just so disappointed."

Ohio representative Jim Jordan is one of the most outspoken Trump supporters on this list – and that's saying something. A staunch ally, Jordan has consistently defended Trump against allegations of Russian ties, election interference, and initiating the Capitol riots. 

Most recently, he's taken aim against investigations surrounding Trump's indictments: the hush money case led by prosecutor Alvin Bragg, the FBI probe into the classified documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago, and now the Fulton County inquiry into his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Jordan, whom Donald Trump unsuccessfully endorsed to replace Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, has protested Alvin Bragg's investigation so fiercely that, a few weeks after indicting Trump, the Manhattan DA filed a lawsuit against Jordan. 

The lawsuit read: "Plaintiff District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. brings this action in response to an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress... Representative Jim Jordan... began a transparent campaign to intimidate and attack District Attorney Bragg, making demands for confidential documents and testimony from the District Attorney himself as well as his current and former employees and officials."

It's unclear whether the lawsuit has developed since April but, whatever the outcome, it's not been enough to ward Jordan off. Alongside his colleague Kevin McCarthy, the recently ousted speaker, he's now battling the Department of Justice to find out more about "the scope of the investigation" into the classified documents, efforts the DoJ is "largely rebuffing," according to POLITICO.

One of the few cabinet members to make it through the entire four years of the Trump administration, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was on the same page as his boss when it came to tax cuts and deregulation.

While Mnuchin himself didn't court a lot of controversy and won praise for co-authoring the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ("CARES") Act, his actress wife Louise Linton has found herself in the headlines more than once.

In 2018, for example, she was busted for having purchased fake Twitter followers while trying to make it in Hollywood.

Mnuchin, who is said to be worth a tidy $400 million, almost certainly helped bankroll his wife's 2021 movie Me You Madness, in which she stars as a cannibalistic serial killer hedge fund manager. Widely panned by critics, it was named the worst film of the year by Metacritic. A promotional shot from the movie is shown here.

A hedge fund manager and investor pre-White House, Mnuchin has returned to finance with the launch of a $2.5 billion private equity firm backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Japanese company SoftBank.

More recently, Mnuchin has testified in defense of Tom Barrack, the chair of Trump's inaugural committee, who was on trial in New York last year for passing on confidential information from the US government to the United Arab Emirates. 

Another cabinet member who managed to avoid getting fired, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross served from February 2017 to January 2021, during which time he oversaw the introduction of tariffs on steel and other commodities, sparking the US-China trade war.

The "King of Bankruptcy," who helped Trump avoid financial ruin in the 1990s, was embroiled in his fair share of scandals while in office.

These ranged from controversy over a citizenship question he wanted to include in the 2020 Census, to conflicts of interest and non-disclosures.

Though he made history in 2017 for being America's oldest-ever first-time Cabinet appointee, Ross hasn't slowed down since he left the White House.

Now in his late eighties, the veteran investor, who is worth an estimated $860 million, is back in the game with a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that raised $345 million in its March 2021 IPO.

Its lofty plans include investing in space technologies, with Ross claiming in February 2021 that he wanted "Trump condos on the Moon."

Ben Carson's bid for the Republican nomination for president in 2016 was derailed by Trump. However, the retired neurosurgeon ended up scoring a top job in his former opponent's administration as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Though his tenure wasn't without its controversies, Carson served in the position until January 2021.

Carson, whose net worth is estimated at $30 million, founded the American Cornerstone Institute just after he left office, a right-wing think tank that promoted "conservative solutions to the real problems our nation faces."

As part of its remit, the organization is funding a Boy Scouts-style program called Little Patriots that promises to "heavily expose" youngsters to the "real history" of America "without divisive racial premises."

In June 2022, Carson released the children's book Red, White, and Blue: Our Flag Matters to Me and You to further the cause. A couple of months beforehand, he also published the New York Times Best Seller Created Equal: The Painful Past, Confusing Present, and Hopeful Future of Race in America.

When conservative commentator Kayleigh McEnany took over from Stephanie Grisham as White House press secretary in April 2020, she promised the press she would never lie to them.

As it turned out, McEnany didn't hesitate to defend some of Trump's more incredulous statements and was among his fiercest supporters following the 2020 vote, echoing his false allegations of electoral fraud.

While Fox News has debunked claims the election was rigged and even cut away from McEnany during a report in November 2020 when she alleged voting irregularities, the network nonetheless hired her as an on-air commentator in March 2021. She was later named co-host of its Outnumbered show.

Following the lead of many of her former colleagues, McEnany has also published a bestselling book. The New York Times Best Seller For Such A Time As This was released in January 2022 and chronicles her time in the White House.

Now discover how Melania Trump makes and spends her money