A new investigation by The Washington Post reveals that Apple and Nvidia each pledged $25 million toward President Donald Trump's new White House ballroom, making them two of the project's largest donors.
The controversial project, whose estimated construction cost has climbed to $600 million, has come under closer scrutiny following the Post's review of internal fundraising records containing previously undisclosed details about donors and their commitments. According to the report, Apple, Nvidia, the Adelson Family Foundation, and the Charlie Ergen household and donor-advised fund each pledged $25 million, together accounting for roughly 30% of the $333 million in reported contributions. The figures come from an internal spreadsheet obtained by The Post. While Apple's involvement was already public, the amount of its contribution had not previously been disclosed.
Other technology-linked donations reportedly include $22 million from the John P. Coale Esq. Trust, tied to settlement funds from Trump's lawsuit against YouTube, and $10 million each from Microsoft and Palantir. Amazon and Meta each gave $5 million, while HP and Micron each contributed $2.5 million. Salesforce gave $2 million, with another $1 million from Benioff DAF. Cisco, Coinbase, Ripple, ServiceNow, and T-Mobile each pledged $5 million, and cryptocurrency exchange Kraken and space-station developer Vast Space gave $1 million apiece.
Earlier, CNN reported that Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Google, Coinbase, Comcast, and Meta were among the companies donating to the proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom, according to the White House. The Post's findings offer the most detailed look yet at who is funding the project and how much each donor has committed.
Source: 9to5Mac · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing