President Donald Trump’s plan to let private donors fund his new $400 million White House ballroom could cost him the entire project as a federal judge soon decides whether the administration will be allowed to rely on fundraising to bypass congressional approval.
U.S. District Judge Ricard Leon said he may rule this month on a lawsuit filed in December by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to halt construction of the ballroom. Washington Post.
Trump has argued that using private donations to pay for the project would reduce the burden on taxpayers, but critics say the plan highlights a lack of transparency into how the expansion will be funded.
Democrats and regulatory groups have questioned the arrangement, which relies on donations from big companies and businesses. The donations were then routed through a nonprofit intermediary, which also profited and collected millions of dollars in fees, according to the agency. postal.
The Trump administration has identified a long list of donors, including big tech giants Amazon, Apple, Google, HP and Microsoft, as well as other high-profile companies such as Coinbase, Lockheed Martin, Palantir Technologies and T-Mobile.
A federal judge will soon decide whether President Donald Trump’s administration can rely on private donations to fund its new $400 million ballroom expansion, according to reports (Getty Images)
Trump has previously said using donations to fund the project puts the cost out of reach for taxpayers (AFP via Getty Images)
Most donors declined to say how much they gave. However, the watchdog group CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) said at least 22 companies involved in the project failed to disclose their donations in lobbying documents.
At a January hearing on the lawsuit held by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Leon expressed his reservations about proceeding without congressional approval. He also questioned whether Trump had the legal authority to demolish the East Wing and build a ballroom in its place without explicit oversight or authorization from Congress.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged the Trust for the National Mall, the nonprofit that manages donations to the project, to clarify its role and share information about donations it receives.
The organization declined to provide details to the postal about the gifts, but said it charges an administrative fee of 2% to 2.5% of each donation. A spokesman said the fee was standard practice.
The White House declined to say how much money has been raised for the project, which has doubled its cost from an initial $200 million estimate last summer.
Shortly after plans for the ballroom were announced, the east wing was demolished without a public review process. (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
“President Trump has generously donated his time and resources to build a beautiful White House Ballroom, a dream project for every president,” said White House spokesman Davis Ingle. “Since announcing this historic plan, the White House has received an influx of calls from generous Americans and American companies wishing to donate.”
In October, Trump hosted a lavish dinner for some of his sponsors in the East Room of the White House, coinciding with the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which lasted 43 days.
Shortly after plans were announced to replace the east wing with a new ballroom, demolition began without any extensive public review process. The ballroom is expected to be approximately 90,000 square feet, and the attached “new east wing” complex will include the first lady’s new office, a movie theater and a commercial kitchen.
“Legally, no president may demolish portions of the White House without any review — not President Trump, not President Joe Biden, nor anyone else,” the lawsuit, filed in December, said.
In December, however, Leon declined to immediately halt construction on the project, and Trump’s Justice Department is taking action to ensure that doesn’t change.
Trump was sued in December by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which challenged the legality of the project (Getty Images)
A filing from the U.S. Department of Justice asked the federal judge overseeing the lawsuit to put a hold on any ban on the building over what it called “national security” concerns, ABC News reported.
“[A]The Secret Service confirms that halting construction would endanger the President and others who live and work in the White House,” the government argued in the filing.
The Trump administration said it would also submit a second classified statement from the Secret Service to further support its argument that halting construction at the site would “endanger national security and thereby harm the public interest.”
The document said if the project was incomplete it would pose a risk to national security. Ahead of the Justice Department’s filing, Judge Leon made clear for the first time that he was skeptical of Trump’s assertion that he could use private donations to fund the ballroom’s construction.