Private spreadsheet reveals Trump ballroom donors as White House vows to pursue leakers
WASHINGTON, DC: A new report has revealed that the donors who funded President Donald Trump’s aspirational ballroom project secured contracts with the federal government during Trump’s second term.
President Trump’s ballroom project is a massive construction effort to replace the 1902 East Wing with a 90,000-square-foot facility featuring a 25,000-square-foot ballroom and a subterranean complex.
Leaked spreadsheet shows more than $300 million raised
The Washington Post published a report on Thursday, October 15, in which it released the list of dozens of donors of Trump’s massive ballroom project, citing an internal spreadsheet used to track contributions.
The spreadsheet shows more than $300 million has been invested.
Trump has said he and his “friends” will pay for the ballroom, but The Washington Post reported that Trump himself was not listed as a donor.
About half of the donors have had contracts with the federal government during Trump’s second term. However, there is no evidence that the donations were linked to any favorable treatment from the administration.
The donations reportedly go through a nonprofit before being transferred to a White House account controlled by Trump.
The watchdog group Public Citizen has also published a list of top donors based on tax filings and other documentation.
Who donated what and what they received
According to the outlet, Apple and Nvidia each donated $25 million to the ballroom project.
The Adelson family and Charles Ergen, the billionaire co-founder and chairman of Dish Network, also contributed $25 million each.
Part of Ergen’s donation reportedly came after FCC Chair Brendan Carr dropped an investigation into Dish Network following a meeting with Ergen over the summer. Ergen had reportedly wanted to keep his donation anonymous.
The timing of some donations has raised questions about possible conflicts of interest, though the White House has denied any wrongdoing.
Google has contributed $22 million, which is part of a $25 million settlement Trump had with YouTube after facing a ban from the platform after the January 6 Capitol riot.
The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation has pledged more than $20 million. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, RHI II LLC and AI company Palantir Technologies have each donated $10 million.
Amazon, Cisco, Meta and T-Mobile have each contributed $5 million, while Comcast has donated $7.5 million.
Other donors include Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler and her husband, who contributed $5 million; major Republican donor Joseph Popolo Jr and his wife, who gave $1 million; and Brandon Lutnick, the son of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who donated $2.5 million.
White House vows to pursue the leaker
White House spokesman Davis Ingle told The Washington Post that the administration will “relentlessly pursue those responsible for this cowardly leak while continuing to protect all those who give.”
“The same critics who are alleging fake conflicts of interest would also complain if American taxpayers were footing the bill for these long-overdue renovations,” he said.
