Ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4, DailyMail+ is today revealing America’s biggest power players.
Based on exclusive polling, our America 250 Power List ranks the men and women who people truly believe wield the most influence.
Once a week, we will focus on a separate group in public life. They will include America’s most powerful political commentators, morning show stars, couples and influencers – and more.
We will also spotlight those quietly shaping Washington behind the scenes, the real forces in the Nashville country music scene, the best-dressed Americans and the biggest names in soccer ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Today, we begin with our ranking of the most powerful men in America – and there are some stunning surprises.
The list includes lawmakers, tech titans, Wall Street wizards and corporate bigwigs.
Intriguingly, in second place is a man who mostly retired from public life a decade ago.
The results also make grim reading for Democrats with an octogenarian the party’s best-placed man in only ninth spot.
There is an early glimpse of the road to 2028, with two potential Republican contenders running neck and neck.
And several trends emerge, including how the guardians of the AI revolution are growing their power, and the increasingly impactful role of the Supreme Court.
According to the polling, conducted by JL Partners, the most powerful and influential man in America is Donald Trump.
Reacting to the news in an exclusive phone call with the Daily Mail, the President said it was a ‘great honor’ and ‘very nice’ to be top of the list.
‘Well, it’s a great honor,’ he told us.
‘Daily Mail is terrific sometimes – most of the time – it’s a great honor. That’s very nice, thank you.’
Meanwhile, in a glaring setback for Democrats, the wide-ranging survey of voters revealed a stark absence of political challengers to Trump.
His closest rival was not a current Democratic politician. Instead, it was Barack Obama, who has been out of office since January 2017.
The next most powerful Democrat, in ninth place, was 84-year-old progressive firebrand Bernie Sanders.
As America stands on the threshold of AI upheaval the top five on the list, after Trump and Obama, was rounded out by tech titans Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.
Our Power List also found that no member of Trump’s Cabinet made the top five.
And, all Cabinet secretaries were less powerful than John Roberts, the Supreme Court Chief Justice, who has been at loggerheads with Trump and came in sixth.
As speculation mounts over the Republican presidential nomination for 2028 – Trump being constitutionally barred from seeking a third term – Vice President JD Vance pipped Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They were at seventh and eighth respectively on the Power List.
‘The most likely result right now is a Vance-Rubio ticket,’ one Washington insider told the Daily Mail. ‘That’s what people have been talking about. Now, if things really go south for Trump, then I suppose Rubio would have a case to make, although he’s weakening it with all these wars.
‘But he would have a case to make that he is the more reasonable choice, and therefore the more electable one and Vance would just be seen as a pale shadow of Trump.
‘(But) I don’t think that they will easily split because they need everybody marching in lockstep to win. Vance and Rubio have, actually, kept in close touch, and their key people keep in close touch.’
Presidential historian Robert Watson, professor of American history at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, said Obama’s second-place position showed that many Americans continue to regard him as a great president.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘Some presidents remained powerful years after their presidency – it isn’t “power” per se, but rather “influential”.
‘For instance, Washington, Lincoln, and FDR all cast long shadows over the presidency, and all their successors, for years. Their impressive presidencies and leadership impacted America for years to come.
‘Think, for instance, of FDR’s New Deal or LBJ’s Great Society. Both impacted Americans in profound ways for decades. Or, think of Washington, who created lasting precedents for the office.’
Bernie Sanders came close to winning the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020.
His elevated position in the Power List will likely be seen as an indicator of a leftward lurch in the Democratic Party ahead of the midterm elections in November.
Sanders bested Josh Shapiro, the more centrist Democratic governor of Pennsylvania who was 13th, and Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California who came in 14th.
It will be a blow for Newsom, who is considered the frontrunner for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028.
Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, who is spearheading the war against Iran, was the next most powerful member of the Cabinet after Vance and Rubio, in 15th.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani was the 16th most powerful man in America.
And Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase, was the highest ranked Wall Street figure in 21st.
Dimon, a widely trusted voice on the economy, recently issued a stark warning that the Iran war could send inflation – which he called the ‘skunk at the party’ – surging, pushing up the cost of living and forcing interest rates higher.
President Trump is the most influential man in America in the Mail+ Power List
No member of Trump’s Cabinet made the top five, but Vice President JD Vance (L) came in 7th, Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C) was 8th, and War Secretary Pete Hegseth (R) 15th
Former President Barack Obama is still the second most influential man in America, according to the Mail+ Power List
Meanwhile, MAGA figures Donald Trump Jr and Steve Bannon came in 28th and 33rd respectively.
The Power List was compiled by JL Partners who questioned 1,017 registered voters between March 25 and March 27.
One of the most notable features was the presence of the three tech leaders in the top five.
Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, also surged into 19th place.
Tesla boss Musk, Amazon founder Bezos, and Facebook chief Zuckerberg all had positions of honor at Trump’s inauguration.
An official at the time said they were going to be a ‘big part of where the president goes in the second term.’
Tech titans Mark Zuckeberg (L), Jeff Bezos (C) and Elon Musk (R) all made the top five
Senator Bernie Sanders, 84, was a surprise package in the Power List, landing in 9th place, and showing his continuing influence over the Democratic Party
Musk, the richest person in the world, has seen his net worth rise $16 billion this year to $636 billion.
He owns 15 per cent of Tesla and 45 percent of SpaceX, which could go public this year, further increasing his wealth.
The power of the tech moguls may be rising but Sanders is out to curtail it.
He has recently been amping up his campaign for a five percent wealth tax on America’s 938 billionaires, who he claims became $1.5 trillion richer last year due to Trump’s tax cuts
‘We have a tax code that is totally rigged,’ he wrote recently. ‘Why, in a nation of such extraordinary wealth, exploding technology and greatly increased worker productivity, are so many people struggling just to stay alive?’
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Roberts’ position near the top of the Power List comes despite his determination to keep a low public profile.
Roberts has described his role as a neutral umpire ‘calling balls and strikes,’ but he has increasingly been calling those strikes against Trump.
In February, he wrote the majority Supreme Court opinion striking down Trump’s global tariffs policy.
Trump then called the justices who opposed his tariffs ‘disloyal’ and ‘unpatriotic,’ and claimed the decision was ‘not written by smart people.’
Chief Justice John Roberts, who has been publicly at odds with President Trump, scored highly on the Power List
Work to do? California governor Gavin Newsom, considered the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2028, was only 14th
He wrote on Truth Social that the Supreme Court was ‘little more than a weaponized and unjust Political Organization’ and that its members were ‘hurting our Country.’
In very rare public remarks, Roberts responded: ‘Personally directed hostility is dangerous and it’s got to stop.’
In April, Trump personally attended a Supreme Court hearing in a case in which his administration is trying to end birthright citizenship.
Roberts seemed skeptical, telling US Solicitor General John Sauer that the White House’s argument was ‘quirky.’
When Sauer suggested that ‘eight billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who’s a US citizen,’ Roberts delivered a notable putdown.
‘It’s a new world,’ he said. ‘But it’s the same Constitution.’
