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 it’s a literal quid-pro-quo, but it’s probably more like ‘if you give this, I will look favorably upon you.’ Or maybe more like, ‘if 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 “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.”
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 “Establish the Magnificent White House Ballroom,” 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.
