Alphabet, Apple, Meta Lead Private Funding For Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful’ $250M White House Ballroom Project, Donor List Reveals

• Trump has said the “new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom” will be built at no expense to taxpayers.
• The proposed ballroom will be 90,000 square feet, nearly twice the size of the main White House.
• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said more people wanted to contribute to the project.

Construction work for a lavish ballroom, capable of hosting 1,000 attendees, kicked off in White House’s East Wing this week. A host of companies, led by big techs, will reportedly be part of the private funders for the project.

President Donald Trump announced on Monday the start of the construction. “I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom," he said in a Truth Social post.

“I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer! The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.”

Big Techs Lead Donor List 

The project, estimated at $250 million, would not dent the government’s coffers but would come from deep-pocketed big techs and other high-profile defense tech, telecom, and crypto companies. 

The donor list provided by the White House to the Times included names such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Micron, Meta Platforms, Palantir, T-Mobile, Tether, Union Pacific, Comcast, Reynolds American, Lockheed Martin, NextEra Energy, Coinbase, Altria, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Caterpillar. The contributions each made were not specified.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the list of donors has been released and that more people will want to contribute to this project generously. She also stated that the president has committed his own resources. “This is going to be a magnificent addition to the White House for many years to come,” she added.

According to a PBS report, the proposed ballroom will be 90,000 square feet, nearly twice the size of the main White House.

Quid Pro Quo Offerings?

The tech industry’s approach toward Trump has altered since the days when they penalized the president by blocking him out of the mainstream social media platforms in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.

Silicon Valley venture capitalist David Sacks actively spearheaded Trump’s 2024 campaign, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta, and Alphabet have all donated to either the president’s campaign or his inaugural fund. 

TechCrunch reported that Google-parent Alphabet may have contributed at least $20 million, potentially the full settlement the company was required to pay Trump in the lawsuit over the suspension of his YouTube account. Google recently received a softer-than-expected blow in an antitrust ruling that allowed the company to keep its Chrome browser and the search deal with companies, including Apple.

The report also stated that the motivation to donate may have come from the antitrust travails many of these tech companies face, Trump’s thrust on key new-age technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and his crypto-friendly stance.

The extravagant project comes at a time when the government shutdown, which has been ongoing for more than three weeks, continues as lawmakers have failed to clinch an agreement on a stopgap funding bill. 

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