DOUGH-SI-DOUGH

Trump’s Suck-Up Ballroom Donors Are Finally Unmasked

One name is notably absent from the list of contributers—the president himself.

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.

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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. Her father, Venezuelan banker Herrera Velutini, received a pardon from Trump in January.

According to the Post, records show his daughter paid an $835,000 first installment in October 2025. Her second payment was due this month.

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The Post alleges that 67 donations exceeded $10,000 and that, in total, private donors gave $333 million.

The Post’s review also found that additional internal records on the fundraising effort showed that at least $77 million came from donors requesting anonymity. Separate from the larger donations, the ballroom also received dozens of small donations, including some as low as $10.

The Daily Beast asked the White House to comment on the revelations after it vowed transparency on the project. The White House was also asked why Trump wasn’t among the donors, even though he repeatedly touts the project.

The White House responded with a statement that did not address specific questions, instead attacking the document leak and vowing to find the leaker.

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It claimed the White House does not “discuss or disclose personal information about individuals’ private donations they may or may not have been given to nonprofit organizations.”

“We will relentlessly pursue those responsible for this cowardly leak while continuing to protect all those who give,” said spokesman Davis Ingle. “Instead, the Washington Post traffics in leaks from rogue employees, risking the reputation of a completely apolitical organization, in an effort to violate the privacy and free speech rights of American patriots who are generously donating their resources to Make America Great Again.”

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Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

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