Copyright The New York Times
President Trump’s aides have promised transparency about the funding of a new ballroom, but the White House withheld the identities of several donors to the project, including some with business before the administration, The New York Times found. A list released last month by the White House of more than three dozen donors omitted donation amounts, as well as the names of several individuals and companies that collectively have billions of dollars riding on the outcome of administration policy decisions. The rush of major business interests to fund a pet project of Mr. Trump’s has reinforced a perception in corporate America that the ballroom is a way to curry favor with, or seek protection from, a president who has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to use the levers of government to help allies and punish foes. Among the donors not disclosed by the White House are a pair of health care companies seeking to protect or expand Medicare reimbursement for their products, as well as the Wall Street powerhouse BlackRock, whose bid to acquire a stake in Panama Canal ports has been supported by Mr. Trump amid opposition from China. Another is Jeff Yass, a major investor in TikTok’s parent company who could benefit from a Trump-backed deal to keep the social media app up and running in the United States. Still others attended a dinner at the White House last month for donors who gave $2.5 million or more to build the ballroom, but their presences were not disclosed by the administration, and not all of them have not publicly acknowledged whether they donated. They include Greg Brockman, the president of OpenAI, which has lobbied Mr. Trump’s team to block state artificial intelligence laws. Mr. Trump’s fund-raisers have been circulating a pledge form, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, seeking contributions for the ballroom, which gives donors the option of withholding their identities from public disclosure. Such donations could remain anonymous in perpetuity, as the funds are being raised and managed by the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit registered under a section of the tax code for charities that provides benefits for donors including the ability to claim tax deductions and to keep their identities anonymous. A White House official said in a statement that the identities of donors “who wish to be named publicly” will be disclosed, but that “donors also have the option to remain anonymous and we will honor that if that’s what they choose.” Ethics experts have raised concerns about the donations, including the possibility that they could lead to special treatment for donors or test the bounds of a prohibition on federal agencies accepting gifts from private sources. Mr. Trump has said he would supplement outside donations with his own money, and has cast the effort to build the ballroom as an apolitical, selfless act to address a lack of space inside the White House for some official dinners. While the pledge form refers to the project as “the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom,” Mr. Trump said last week “I don’t have any plan to call it after myself.”
