A report by the Washington Post revealed that tech giants Nvidia and Apple each donated $25 million for president Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom. The report also mentioned the project received $333 million in donations.
Other donors include the Adelson family, who are longtime financial supporters of Trump and his Republican party. They also committed $25 million to the project, as did billionaire Charles Ergen, co-founder and chairman of telecommunications company Dish Network.
READ: OpenAI fires three safety employees over alleged mishandling of confidential information (October 2, 2026)
The Post mentioned the president himself was not among the donors. The White House had said it would not release information about the donors, which spokesman Davis Ingle said “represent a wide array of great American companies.” “The same critics who are alleging fake conflicts of interests, would also complain if American taxpayers were footing the bill for these long-overdue renovations,” Ingle told Reuters.
The White House publicly identified 37 people, companies and foundations as donors last October, without revealing the amount of their individual gifts.
Nvidia said it was proud to make a donation to a nonpartisan trust that serves Americans. “As an American company, our support for the United States is paramount, and independent of any business interests,” a spokesperson said.
The Washington Post said it had obtained an internal spreadsheet used to track contributions for the fundraising effort, containing the source, date and amount of all 67 donations above $10,000 recorded as of late last month. Additional records, also internal to the fundraising effort, provide more detail about the donations and indicate that at least $77 million came from donors who requested anonymity.
Trump had initially said he and wealthy donors would pay for the estimated $400 million project, but he later unsuccessfully sought $1 billion from Congress for an underground bunker and security features to harden the facility.
The Post reported that the “vast majority of the funds raised came from companies and wealthy individuals with interests before the federal government” and that half the total came from companies or executives of firms that have had federal government contracts in Trump’s second White House term.
The ballroom project had received criticism from watchdog groups and legal experts because of its scale and the administration’s handling of fundraising and disclosures. These critics have raised concerns over transparency, donor influence, and other ethical issues. Some have also accused Trump of exceeding his authority by demolishing the historic East Wing, which housed the first lady’s offices and the White House movie theater, to make room for the structure.
READ: OpenAI fires three researchers who say they raised AI safety concerns (October 9, 2026)
Opponents have also challenged this project in court. The US Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in August, allowed Trump to continue construction of the ballroom while he challenges a judicial order that would halt much of the development. In a dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts said the project was “likely unlawful.”
Trump says a planned 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) White House ballroom will include bomb shelters, medical facilities, defenses against drones and missiles and other security features. His administration responded to criticism saying the facility is needed for national security.