Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: Big tech is helping to pay for Trump's ballroom that we all definitely
want

Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2025 16:25:46 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/big-tech-is...

The federal government has released a list of all of the entities helping to
pay for President Trump's lavish White House ballroom, according to reporting
by Business Insider. Big tech is all over this thing, with companies like
Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft all shelling out cash to fund the
90,000-square-foot ballroom.

It's not just big tech. Defense firms are also helping to pony the bill here.
Companies like Lockheed Martin and Palintir are sending some cash, as are
random billionaires like the Winklevoss twins and Domino Sugar magnate José
Fanjul. The list reads like a who's who of the ultra wealthy and connected.

As we all know, giant corporations and billionaires are kind and selfless,
but what if just this one time they want something in return for their
largesse? Columbia professor of law Richard Briffault told Time that most of
these donors have done "significant" business with the federal government,
raising ethical concerns.

"I doubt itΓÇÖs a literal quid-pro-quo, but itΓÇÖs probably more like ΓÇÿif
you give this, I will look favorably upon you.ΓÇÖ Or maybe more like, ΓÇÿif
you don't give this, after you've been asked, I won't [look favorably upon
you]," Briffault said. "It's greasing the system by making contributions, and
in some ways, his leaning on them for contributions is quasi-coercive."

Noah Bookbinder, CEO and President of ethics watchdog organization Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said the whole thing is
ΓÇ£extraordinarily unusual, deeply disturbing and does have tremendous ethics
implications." He also said that "Donald Trump has made very clear over the
years that he does appreciate people paying tribute to him, and he does tend
to do things that benefit those people."

President Trump hosted top donors to the $250 million ballroom project at the
White House, opening the door to potential institutional favoritism.

During a government shutdown, the optics of this pay-to-play are even worse.
https://t.co/MbAKxOaPdG

ΓÇö Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) October 23, 2025

Trump has been personally woo-ing these potential financiers. There was a
fundraising dinner in the East Room last week that included representatives
of several of the aforementioned companies. The dinner was billed as an event
to ΓÇ£Establish the Magnificent White House Ballroom,ΓÇ¥ according to the
Wall Street Journal. The outlet also reported that Trump has held meetings at
the White House and at his club in Virginia to raise money for the project.

It's worth noting that this isn't the first time big tech companies have
banded together to pay tribute to Trump. Most of the aforementioned companies
helped pay for his inauguration and, heck, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave Trump an
actual 24K gold statue for some reason.

The construction of this glorious ballroom we all most definitely want has
already been at the heart of several controversies. Americans were recently
surprised to find that the East Wing of the White House had been completely
demolished, despite the president previously promising the ballroom would not
even touch the actual property.

In any event, we'll soon be able to watch live feeds of the ultra rich
dancing the night away to the Village People or whatever, which is sure to
solve all of our problems. In unrelated news, food stamps are likely to run
out next week for around 41 million Americans and beef now averages $10 a
pound.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-
tech/big-tech-is-helping-to-pay-for-trumps-ballroom-that-we-all-definitely-
want-162545434.html?src=rss

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