Leaked Documents Reveal Secret Donors Behind Trump's $333 Million White House Ballroom

An internal Trust for the National Mall spreadsheet obtained by The Washington Post shows $333 million in private donations funding Trump's White House ballroom, including $25 million each from Nvidia, Apple, the Adelson family and EchoStar's Charles Ergen. About $77 million came from anonymous donors, and half came from companies with federal contracts.

Because the money flows through a nonprofit rather than campaign-finance channels, donors aren't required to disclose their gifts, and the government's agreement with the Trust lets it withhold donor names "to the extent provided by law." Watchdogs say that opacity, combined with donors' business before the government, makes influence-buying hard to rule out.

The Campaign Legal Center filed an FEC complaint alleging one donor was a "straw" contributor for her father, a financier Trump pardoned on bribery charges in January. The FCC dropped an investigation into Ergen's company weeks after his donations, following a meeting between Ergen, Trump and the FCC chair. The White House declined to discuss individual donations and vowed to "relentlessly pursue" the leakers.