Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer rights, anti-corruption and public advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader, released a report on Nov. 3 showing that most of the corporations donating to President Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom construction project have extensive financial relationships with the federal government and wide-ranging conflicts of interest. Cumulatively, the donor corporations have received around $279 billion from the U.S. federal government over the past five years.
Over half of the corporations donating to the project “are facing federal enforcement actions and/or have had federal enforcement actions suspended by the Trump administration,” the report states, raising concerns about both political and corporate corruption.
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“These giant corporations aren’t funding the Trump ballroom debacle out of a sense of civic pride. They have massive interests before the federal government and they undoubtedly hope to curry favor with, and receive favorable treatment from, the Trump administration,” one of the report’s authors explained. “Paying tribute is a mark of authoritarianism, and in making these payments, these corporations are aiding Trump’s authoritarian project.”
Trump’s White House, in contrast, argues that relying on private donations removes the burden from taxpayers, and insinuates that this is a more ethical way to fund the construction.
