SILICON VALLEY — Major companies including Nvidia and Apple have given large sums to help build a new ballroom at the White House, raising criticism that the Trump administration collected the money in exchange for regulatory relief and pardons.
The Washington Post reported on the 15th that $330 million, or about 443.6 billion won, had been raised for the ballroom, a signature project of President Donald Trump. The donors include not only big technology companies and major political benefactors but also a family member of someone who received a pardon. Trump, who had said he would contribute, was not on the list.
According to the donor list obtained by the Post, corporate contributors include Nvidia and Apple, while individual donors include the Adelson family, a major Republican benefactor, and billionaire Charles Ergen, co-founder and chairman of the telecommunications company Dish Network. Each gave $25 million.
Google paid $22 million as a settlement in a lawsuit Trump had filed against YouTube. A foundation run by former Marvel Entertainment Chief Executive Isaac Perlmutter and his wife donated $20.27 million. Lockheed Martin, Palantir and Microsoft each gave $10 million, while large companies including Amazon, Caterpillar, Comcast and T-Mobile gave $5 million or more each.
The Winklevoss twins, founders of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, donated bitcoin worth $5 million. Crypto companies and investors have pledged more than $18 million in total. The cryptocurrency industry and prediction-market platforms are among the most active sectors lobbying the Trump administration.
Among administration officials, Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler and her husband, former New York Stock Exchange chairman Jeff Sprecher, pledged $5 million. Brandon Lutnick, chairman of the investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and son of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, donated stock valued at more than $2.5 million. Joseph Popolo Jr., the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, and his wife gave $1 million from a family fund.
The Post said the donations appear to have been made in exchange for favors. Nvidia became the largest donor three months after the government decided the company could sell advanced semiconductors to China. Popolo joined the list of donors two months after winning Senate confirmation. Ergen's donation came after the Federal Communications Commission halted an investigation into his parent company, EchoStar, in May last year. A special-purpose entity tied to Rocket, a housing, finance and technology company, pledged $10 million after the government last year approved Rocket's acquisition of two rivals.
Julio Herrera Velutini, an Italian-Venezuelan financier indicted in the United States on bribery and other charges, was pardoned by Trump early this year, and his daughter Isabella pledged $2.5 million in September last year. Others who pledged donations include Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff, whose company has won large government contracts; billionaire financier Paul Singer, who has interests tied to Venezuela's oil market; and Harold Hamm, chairman emeritus of the oil and gas company Continental Resources.
The money is routed to a White House account through the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit group in Washington. The Post said the list "offers the fullest picture yet of a fundraising campaign unprecedented in its scale and opacity," adding that the "overwhelming majority" of donors were companies and wealthy individuals with interests before the federal government.