Democrats cite conflict-of-interest concerns over fundraising scale
The Trust for the National Mall, a long-established nonprofit the White House has used to manage funds raised for the new White House ballroom, a planned triumphal arch, and the Rose Garden renovation, recorded $320 million in contributions and grants last year — a sharp increase from less than $10 million in 2024, according to the filing reviewed by the Journal. Ten megadonors accounted for more than half of the approximately $300 million raised for those projects, with each contributing between $10 million and $25 million, the Journal reported.
The trust’s annual filing does not identify the donors. The White House has previously identified some ballroom donors but has not disclosed how much they contributed, and the documents reviewed by the Journal do not break out spending for individual initiatives. The filing does show that the trust recorded $210 million in expenses last year, most of it going to maintenance and capital improvement projects.
No laws prohibit presidents from raising unlimited sums for nonprofits, and public disclosure of donors is not required. The fundraising has nevertheless drawn scrutiny from congressional Democrats, who cited the potential for conflicts of interest given that several donors have business before the Trump administration. A spokeswoman for Trump previously said the president is the “most successful fundraiser in modern political history” and that “President Trump can’t be bought.”
The Journal previously reported that Apple wrote a check for approximately $25 million toward the ballroom; Microsoft gave around $10 million; YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet, contributed $22 million to the nonprofit as part of a settlement for a 2021 civil lawsuit Trump brought against the company; and the Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation, created by former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter and his wife, gave $20.3 million — labeling the sum as “restricted — White House ballroom” in its own tax filing. The Perlmutter donation was by far the largest contribution the foundation reported during the year.
The newly released documents also provide some detail on how the funds were spent. The trust paid more than $800,000 to Florida Architectural Precast, a concrete manufacturer, for construction and other project services. The firm’s website lists Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club and two of the president’s Florida golf courses among its completed projects. Luke Walters, the company’s chief operating officer, said in a LinkedIn post last year that its “manufacturing team” helped complete the White House Rose Garden and posted photographs from the White House grounds, including one taken inside the Oval Office. The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Journal.
Trump has made beautifying Washington a priority in his second term and pushes companies and donors to write checks for tens of millions of dollars to finance the projects, the Journal previously reported. His chief fundraiser, Meredith O’Rourke, regularly calls major companies with specific, at times eight-figure asks. Spokespeople for the Trust for the National Mall and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new filing.