Most of the publicly known donors to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project hold government contracts worth billions of dollars, according to a new report published on Monday by Public Citizen. More than half of the companies financing the project have been the subjects of current or past investigations, according to the consumer advocacy group founded by political activist Ralph Nader.
Donors to the $300 million ballroom, which will replace the East Wing of the White House, reportedly have a range of interests in Trump administration policies, including tariffs, technology, online privacy and manufacturing.
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$279 billion in contracts, $1.6 billion in political contributions
The report focuses on three dozen corporate and private donors revealed by the White House, along with three more that have since been publicly identified. Public Citizen reports that these donors have received $279 billion in federal contracts and spent $1.6 billion on political donations and lobbying over the past five years.
The donors cited in the report include tech, media and defense companies such as Google, Comcast and Lockheed Martin.
Democrats in Congress and advocates for transparency have expressed concerns with Trump’s demolition of the East Wing to make room for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom. Many of the donors announced by the White House, including Altria Group, Amazon and Apple, donated to the president’s inaugural fund after the 2024 election or to other Republican efforts.
“They have massive interests before the federal government, and they hope to undoubtedly curry favor with, and receive favorable treatment from, the Trump administration,” Robert Weissman, the copresident of Public Citizen, said in a statement. “Millions to fund Trump’s architectural whims are nothing compared to the billions at stake in procurement, regulatory and enforcement decisions.”
Lockheed Martin’s response
None of the companies mentioned in the report has disclosed the size of their donations to Trump’s ballroom project. However, during a dinner at the White House last month, Trump said some donors had offered as much as $25 million.
Only a few donors have responded to the Public Citizen report.
“We maintain strong working relationships with every administration to ensure our armed forces and allies are equipped with the most advanced technologies to deter and defeat evolving threats,” a Lockheed Martin spokesperson told The Washington Post.
The spokesperson stated that the company adheres to all applicable laws and regulations in its dealings with the Trump administration. The government has paid Lockheed Martin more than $200 billion in the past five years, according to a federal database.
Public Citizen against private funding for White House projects
Weissman argues that public money should be used to fund public infrastructure, ensuring public input and oversight.
He called the White House “the people’s house” and asserted that it should live up to the name with construction financed “by the people, not by private corporate and billionaire donors who have something to gain from making a donation to the president’s pet project.”
Significant amount of face or faced investigations
According to Public Citizen, 14 of the 24 publicly disclosed corporate donors are facing federal disciplinary actions or have had such punishments suspended by the Trump administration since the beginning of the president’s second term. Those companies include Amazon, which the Department of Justice alleges illegally covered up worker injuries, and Apple, which faced accusations that it had violated workers’ rights. The National Labor Relations Board dropped the claims in September.
The ballroom donor list obtained by Public Citizen is not comprehensive. The group notes that CBS News identified three corporate donors not disclosed by the Trump administration.
According to The New York Times, Trump has given donors the option to remain anonymous. However, Democrats, including Sen. Adam Schiff of California and others, have requested that the administration provide a comprehensive overview of how it is funding the project, including details of agreements with donors.
White House pushes back against criticism
Democrats and preservationists have repeatedly complained that Trump did not go through the proper channels before demolishing the White House’s East Wing to create space for the ballroom.
When asked by CBS News if the private donations for the ballroom represent a conflict of interest, White House press secretary Karolina Leavitt said in a statement, “The same critics who are wrongly claiming there are conflicts of interests would complain if taxpayers were footing the bill.”
