Trump’s Suck-Up Ballroom Donors Are Finally Unmasked

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters Funding for President Donald Trump’s massive White House ballroom comes from a series of donors with government ties, including those tied to regulatory decisions, contracts, and a presidential pardon.

Secret documents obtained by The Washington Post show all the contributions behind the president’s project that had previously gone undisclosed despite administration promises of transparency.

Notably absent from the list of contributors was the president himself, despite his repeated bragging about the project.

Nvidia and Apple, whose leaders have frequently met with the president and top administration officials, each pledged $25 million for the ballroom.

The Adelson family, close Republican allies to Trump, and billionaire Dish Network chairman Charles Ergen also committed $25 million, the largest amount.

Google donated $22 million, funds from a settlement in Trump’s YouTube lawsuit.

The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation Inc. donated more than $20 million.

Lockheed Martin Corporation, a defense contractor, Microsoft, RHI II LLC, and Palantir Technologies Inc. all donated $10 million.

Comcast donated $7.5 million.

Amazon, Meta, Cisco, ExtremityCare, T-Mobile, ServiceNow, Altria Group, Caterpillar, and the Baszucki Gift Fund each contributed $5 million.

NextEra Energy donated $4 million.

A series of financial services donors, including the BlackRock Charitable Fund, Paul Singer Fund, Jeff Yass DAF, Kelly Loeffler & Jeff Sprecher Fund, and Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of BlackRock, and his wife, Christine, each gave $5 million.

Another $18.1 million came from the crypto industry, including $5.1 million from Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, $5 million from Ripple Labs, and $5 million from Coinbase.

Among those who made a commitment to the ballroom was Isabela Herrera, who pledged $2.5 million in total.