Trump’s
Team Offers to Keep Some Ballroom Donors Incognito
Many
corporate interests that have donated to the president’s pet project have
business before his administration.
Kenneth
P. Vogel
By
Kenneth P. Vogel
Kenneth
P. Vogel covers lobbying, money and influence in politics and government. He
reported from Washington.
Nov. 1,
2025
President
Trump’s aides have promised transparency about the funding of a new ballroom,
but the White House withheld the identities of several donors to the project,
including some with business before the administration, The New York Times
found.
A list
released last month by the White House of more than three dozen donors omitted
donation amounts, as well as the names of several individuals and companies
that collectively have billions of dollars riding on the outcome of
administration policy decisions.
The rush
of major business interests to fund a pet project of Mr. Trump’s has reinforced
a perception in corporate America that the ballroom is a way to curry favor
with, or seek protection from, a president who has repeatedly demonstrated a
willingness to use the levers of government to help allies and punish foes.
Among the
donors not disclosed by the White House are a pair of health care companies
seeking to protect or expand Medicare reimbursement for their products, as well
as the Wall Street powerhouse BlackRock, whose bid to acquire a stake in Panama
Canal ports has been supported by Mr. Trump amid opposition from China. Another
is Jeff Yass, a major investor in TikTok’s parent company who could benefit
from a Trump-backed deal to keep the social media app up and running in the
United States.
The
chip-making giant Nvidia, which could be the beneficiary of a deal with the
Trump administration to facilitate trade with China, was also not on the list
of donors released by the White House. But last week the company’s chief
executive revealed that it was among the donors, saying he was “proud to
contribute in a small way to what will be a historic and national monument for
our country.”
Still
others attended a dinner at the White House last month for donors who gave $2.5
million or more to build the ballroom, but their presences were not disclosed
by the administration, and not all of them have not publicly acknowledged
whether they donated. They include Greg Brockman, the president of OpenAI,
which has lobbied Mr. Trump’s team to block state artificial intelligence laws.
Mr.
Trump’s fund-raisers have been circulating a pledge form, a copy of which was
obtained by The Times, seeking contributions for the ballroom, which gives
donors the option of withholding their identities from public disclosure. Such
donations could remain anonymous in perpetuity, as the funds are being raised
and managed by the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit registered under a
section of the tax code for charities that provides benefits for donors
including the ability to claim tax deductions and to keep their identities
anonymous.
A White
House official said in a statement that the identities of donors “who wish to
be named publicly” will be disclosed, but that “donors also have the option to
remain anonymous and we will honor that if that’s what they choose.”
Ethics
experts have raised concerns about the donations, including the possibility
that they could lead to special treatment for donors or test the bounds of a
prohibition on federal agencies accepting gifts from private sources.
Mr. Trump
has said he would supplement outside donations with his own money, and has cast
the effort to build the ballroom as an apolitical, selfless act to address a
lack of space inside the White House for some official dinners.
While the
pledge form refers to the project as “the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom,”
Mr. Trump said last week “I don’t have any plan to call it after myself.”
During a
speech at the White House dinner for assembled donors, which he said numbered
nearly 130 people, Mr. Trump promised that they would be among the first guests
welcomed into the completed ballroom “if I still like you at that time, which
I’m sure I will.”
The
fund-raising is being overseen by Meredith O’Rourke, Mr. Trump’s lead campaign
finance operative, with assistance from a handful of lobbyists and consultants
who have been top bundlers for various Trump groups. Among them are Brian
Ballard, Jeff Miller and Reince Priebus, who was Mr. Trump’s White House chief
of staff in 2017.
The White
House official called Ms. O’Rourke “a valuable member in the president’s
fund-raising operation, regardless of the project.”
She
attended the White House donor dinner, as did Mr. Ballard, Mr. Miller and Mr.
Priebus. Ms. O’Rourke and Mr. Ballard declined to comment. Mr. Miller and Mr.
Priebus did not respond to requests for comment.
The firms
of Mr. Ballard, Mr. Miller and Mr. Priebus represent a number of the
corporations that donated to the ballroom fund, as well as dozens of other
clients seeking favor from Mr. Trump’s administration.
Some of
the donors to the ballroom fund who have the most to gain — or lose — from
administration actions include:
Health
Care
Vantive:
The kidney care company, which has been pushing the Trump administration to
allow more Medicare reimbursements for at-home dialysis, made a previously
unreported donation to the ballroom fund, according to two people familiar with
the fund-raising who were not authorized to discuss it. Katie Villany, a
Vantive spokeswoman, would not confirm the amount, but said the company’s chief
executive, Chris Toth, attended the dinner and called the ballroom “a space
that will enable public discourse for many years to come.”
Extremity
Care: The company
or one of its affiliates made a previously unreported $2.5 million donation to
the ballroom fund, according to a person familiar with the fund-raising who was
not authorized to discuss it. Extremity Care has been arguing to protect
Medicare reimbursement for the bandages it makes using dried bits of placenta.
After the company donated $5 million to Mr. Trump’s super PAC and one of its
executives attended a fund-raiser with Mr. Trump in March, the Trump
administration announced it would delay until next year a plan to limit
Medicare’s coverage of the bandages. The company did not respond to requests
for comment.
Finance
BlackRock:
The firm — which had been targeted by the Trump administration and influential
conservative groups over its support for environmental, social and governance
causes — donated at least $2.5 million to the ballroom effort and sent
executives to the White House dinner, according to two people familiar with the
fund-raising. BlackRock declined to comment.
Jeff
Yass: The billionaire financier personally donated at least $2.5 million to the
ballroom fund drive, a person familiar with the donation said. Mr. Yass
attended the White House dinner along with Tony Sayegh, an official in the
first Trump administration who now works for Mr. Yass’s trading firm,
Susquehanna International Group, according to three attendees. Susquehanna is a
major shareholder in ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok. Mr.
Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of a federal law that would ban TikTok
in the United States as a national security threat, and has been working on a
deal that could transfer the app to a U.S. ownership group. Mr. Yass and Mr.
Sayegh did not respond to requests for comment.
Stephen
A. Schwarzman: The chief executive of the investment firm Blackstone Group has
been a backer of Mr. Trump and has supported the administration’s tariffs. Matt
Anderson, a spokesman for Blackstone, said that the donation for the ballroom
was from Mr. Schwarzman, not the firm, and that it was “not related to any
other issue” other than his support for the project.
Telecommunications
Comcast:
The company donated millions of dollars to the ballroom effort and had two
executives in attendance at the thank-you dinner, according to a person
familiar with the fund-raising. The donation came after Comcast, which owns NBC
and is in the process of spinning off cable channels including MSNBC, drew
criticism from Mr. Trump in April. Comcast is reportedly exploring a deal to
acquire cable assets from Warner Brothers Discovery that could require approval
from the federal government. The company declined to comment.
T-Mobile:
The wireless carrier — which won approval from the Federal Communications
Commission in July to acquire portions of another wireless business after
acceding to pressure from Mr. Trump to drop diversity, equity and inclusion
programs — donated to the ballroom effort and its executives were invited to
the dinner. The company said in a statement that it “has no role in the use of
those funds or decisions related to the construction of the ballroom.”
Tech
Microsoft:
The software behemoth, which has significant contracts with the federal
government, was listed by the White House as among the donors to the ballroom.
While the company has courted Mr. Trump, he nonetheless attacked it in
September for hiring Lisa Monaco, a high-ranking official in former President
Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s Justice Department. So it attracted notice at the dinner
when Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, appeared with a delegation from his
company, according to people briefed on the event. Microsoft declined to
comment.
Google:
The company, which has done business with the Pentagon, has been threatened by
Mr. Trump. Its video platform YouTube agreed in September to donate $22 million
to the ballroom project as part of a settlement with Mr. Trump and others whose
accounts were suspended after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Google
officials attended the dinner, according to people briefed on it. Google
declined to comment.
Amazon,
Apple and Meta: The tech giants, which are the subject of antitrust cases being
pursued by the federal government (as is Google), donated to the ballroom and
sent representatives to the dinner. The companies did not respond to requests
for comment.
Crypto
Ripple:
The cryptocurrency company donated millions to the ballroom and had at least
one executive in attendance at the White House dinner, according to a person
familiar with the fund-raising. The executives have aggressively courted Mr.
Trump, donating to his inauguration and attending multiple small group dinners
with him. In August, amid the Trump administration’s rollback of years of
aggressive cryptocurrency enforcement, the Securities and Exchange Commission
settled a long-running case against Ripple.
Tether
America: The U.S. operation of this overseas crypto company that has faced
accusations of lying about its finances and allowing crime to flourish on its
platform donated to the ballroom fund, according to the White House. Tether has
worked to curry favor in Mr. Trump’s Washington, hiring Mr. Miller to lobby and
Bo Hines, who worked on crypto issues in the White House until August, to
expand the company’s U.S. operation. Mr. Hines and another company official
attended the White House dinner, according to a person familiar with the event.
Mr. Hines and a Tether spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Coinbase:
This cryptocurrency exchangedonated to the ballroom fund, according to the
White House. The S.E.C. in February dropped a lawsuit against the company,
which declined to specify how much it gave but said in a statement that it was
pleased to support the trust.
Tobacco
Altria
and Reynolds American: The companies, which have urged Mr. Trump to resist
tighter regulation of e-cigarettes, donated to the ballroom and sent
representatives to the dinner, according to the White House. Company
representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Defense
Palantir:
The data analysis company, whose co-founders have been major donors to the
president, is playing an increasing role in defense and government contracting
under Mr. Trump’s administration, which tapped Palantir to facilitate a plan to
share data across agencies. It donated at least $2.5 million to the ballroom
effort and sent representatives to the dinner, according to people familiar
with the drive. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Booz
Allen Hamilton and Lockheed Martin: The major defense contractors both donated
to the ballroom and sent officials to the dinner, according to the White House.
Booz Allen did not respond to requests for comment. Lockheed said in a
statement that it was “grateful for the opportunity to help bring the
president’s vision to reality and make this addition to the People’s House, a
powerful symbol of the American ideals we work to defend every day.”
Kenneth
P. Vogel is based in Washington and investigates the intersection of money,
politics and influence.
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