President Trump praises demolition of east building during banquet hall construction project
President Trump commented on the sounds of the latest White House renovations as workers began tearing down part of the east wing to make way for a new ballroom.
President Donald Trump’s controversial East Wing ballroom is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and some of the country’s biggest tech and cryptocurrency companies will be footing the bill.
The list of donors the White House announced are paying additional costs includes Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Apple. Other investors include Coinbase, Ripple, Tether, and several prominent tech investors such as Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss.
The president has said he would pay for it, but the White House has not said how much money he will spend on construction. The White House did not respond to USA TODAY’s inquiries about the amounts donated by each of the 37 donors.
On October 22nd, President Trump appeared to increase the estimated cost of the banquet hall by an additional $50 million from the previous estimate, saying it would cost “approximately $300 million.” As prices change, so does the scope of the project. President Trump initially said only one wall of the East Tower would be torn down. But his sudden reversal sparked outrage as footage showed bulldozers mowing down walls. The White House press secretary confirmed to USA TODAY on October 22 that “the entirety” of the east wing, which traditionally houses the first lady’s office, will be “modernized and renovated.”
Other donors on the list include Palantir Technologies and Lockheed Martin, which have multibillion-dollar contracts with the Trump administration, as well as several Trump allies.
Members of the Trump administration, including Small Business Secretary Kelly Loeffler and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, are also on the donor list. Lutnick is part of the “Lutnick Family.”
The Adelson family is also a donor. In 2018, President Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Miriam Adelson, an Israeli-American billionaire and Republican megadonor.
Here is the complete list of 37 donors announced by the White House:
- altria group
- Amazon
- apple
- booze allen hamilton
- caterpillar
- coinbase
- Comcast Corporation
- J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
- hard rock international
- HP
- lockheed martin
- meta platform
- micron technology
- microsoft
- NextEra Energy
- Palantir Technologies
- ripple
- reynolds american
- T-Mobile
- tether america
- union pacific railroad
- Adelson Family Foundation
- Stephen E. Brody
- Betty Waldo Johnson Foundation
- Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
- edward and shari glazer
- harold ham
- benjamin leon jr.
- the latnick family
- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
- Stephen A. Schwartzman
- Konstantin Sokolov
- Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
- Paolo Tiramani
- cameron winklevoss
- tyler winklevoss
Kathryn Palmer is USA TODAY’s political reporter. She can be reached at the following address: kapalmer@usatoday.com And to X@Kathryn Purml.
