While the Trump administration has not yet released a full list of donors contributing to the planned construction of a White House ballroom, a picture is beginning to emerge of the potential donors and companies funding the project.
President Donald Trump reiterated again in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon that the ballroom was “100% paid for by me and some friends of mine,” referring to donors. “The government pays absolutely nothing.”
Trump also appeared to increase the cost estimate in Between $50 million and $100 million, he told reporters during his remarks Wednesday that the price tag for the new venue was “around $300 million,” up from estimates of between $200 million and $250 million given previously.
President Donald Trump holds a rendering of his proposed ballroom as he meets with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, October 22, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Earlier this month, the Trump administration released a list of people and companies expected to attend a White House dinner about the construction project.
While a full list of donors has not been released, the names of some companies scheduled to attend the dinner released by the White House come largely from the tech and crypto industries, including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft, along with Coinbase, Ripple and Tether. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, two technology and cryptocurrency investors, were also on the list.
Some companies have already reaped lucrative contracts during Trump’s second term, including Microsoft and Google, which won contracts for their cloud and artificial intelligence tools, while Amazon Web Services received potentially up to $1 billion in cloud credit incentives.
The cryptocurrency industry as a whole has made significant profits under the Trump administration through policies and executive orders, and Trump’s own family amassed billions through cryptocurrency companies during his second term.
Demolition work continues on a portion of the East Wing of the White House on October 21, 2025, in Washington, ahead of the construction of a new ballroom.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Other companies, such as Palantir and Lockheed Martin, have billions in contracts with the Trump administration, including the Department of Defense.
“We’re also working with the military because they want to make sure everything is perfect,” Trump said Wednesday night of the ballroom construction project. “And the military is very involved in this. They want to make sure everything is absolutely beautiful.”
While the White House has not been transparent about how exactly the project will be paid for through donations, the money appears to be going to the project in different ways.
For example, according to court documents, Google parent company Alphabet said in a recent legal settlement reached with Trump after he was banned from YouTube after January 6, 2021, that it would contribute $22 million to help build the White House ballroom.
A model of the White House and the new ballroom is seen on a table as President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 22, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
The agreement noted that the $22 million will be contributed on Trump’s behalf “to the Trust for the National Mall, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity dedicated to restoring, preserving and elevating the National Mall, to support the construction of the White House State Room.”
Paolo Tiramani, CEO of a construction company and a donor on the White House list, donated $10 million in stock to the Trust for the National Mall, his company confirmed in a statement.
Donations for the ballroom are made to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit organization that supports the National Park Service and is dedicated to the restoration of the National Mall, the White House and Presidents Park.
Trump’s 2024 campaign finance director Meredith O’Rourke is leading the donation effort for the ballroom, sources told ABC News.
The Trust’s role in the project is to manage donations while the National Park Service and the White House lead design and construction.
The renovation project is more extensive than Trump had previously hinted.
A preservation group has asked the White House to stop the ballroom project, but the White House expects the entire East Wing to be demolished this weekend as part of the renovation.
