The Washington Post has obtained a list of major donors to President Trump's White House ballroom project, and the largest contributions come overwhelmingly from the tech, telecom and crypto industries. Together, these donors have given over $183 million to the project. NVIDIA and Apple each committed $25 million, and billionaire Charles Ergen, co-founder of Dish Network, gave the same amount. NVIDIA and Dish have both benefited significantly from Trump policies during his second term, while Apple has been working to win favor with the administration as it faces tariffs.
Nearly every other major tech company has also donated millions, including Microsoft, Meta, Palantir, Google, Amazon and Cisco. Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson gave $25 million, and firms such as Blackrock, Lockheed Martin, Gemini and Coinbase also contributed. The Post reports that $77 million in funds remains unaccounted for, since ballroom donations are not subject to public disclosure or campaign finance rules. The money flows to a nonprofit that the president directly controls.
President Trump does not appear on the donor list, despite repeatedly saying he would help pay for the project. Meanwhile, American taxpayers could end up covering around half of the cost, which has reportedly risen to $600 million.
Several donors raise further questions about potential conflicts of interest. Joseph Popolo Jr. gave $1 million shortly after being chosen as ambassador to the Netherlands and did not report the donation. Cabinet member Kelly Loeffler and her husband pledged $5 million. Brandon Lutnick, son of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, gave stock worth more than $2.5 million. Isabela Herrera donated $2.5 million, and her father, banker Herrera Velutini, was pardoned by the president in January after pleading guilty to bribery charges. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle criticized the leak and said reporters are looking for "fake conflicts of interest."
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing