Trump's secret White House ballroom donor list exposed, revealing pardoned banker's daughter and tech giants among contributors
A leaked internal spreadsheet identifies 67 donations above $10,000 to Trump's White House ballroom project, totalling $333 million — with at least $77 million from donors who demanded anonymity. Among the most explosive findings: Isabela Herrera pledged $2.5 million after prosecutors reduced her father Julio Herrera Velutini's bribery charges, and Trump subsequently pardoned him in January. Apple and Nvidia each committed $25 million, Dish Network chairman Charles Ergen donated $25 million after the FCC dropped its probe of his company, and Google contributed $22 million from a lawsuit settlement over YouTube's ban of Trump.
Trump himself does not appear on the donor list, despite claiming he would personally fund the project, whose estimated cost has now surged to $600 million.
Defence contractor Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, and Palantir each donated $10 million, while Comcast gave $7.5 million and Amazon contributed $5 million.
The reporting reportedly does not establish that donations directly caused any government action, but multiple donors had regulatory decisions, federal contracts, or pardons pending before the administration.