The White House has revealed the names of donors to US President Donald Trump’s plans to build a $300 million ballroom. Donors include top entrepreneurs, CEOs, companies and crypto platforms. Some of the popular contributors are big tech firms like Apple led by Tim Cook, Amazon and Jeff Bezos’ Meta led by Mark Zuckerberg, CNN reported.
However, one name missing from the list of donors is the world’s richest man and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk, who was once known to be a close associate of Trump and one of the biggest donors to his political campaign.
What is the White House Ballroom?
Trump previously announced construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The White House announced that the newly built ballroom will have a capacity of 650 people, which is a significant increase over the 200-person capacity of the East Room of the White House.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump also clarified that the project is privately funded and does not involve taxpayer money.
Read also | Will Donald Trump name the White House ballroom after himself? A US official clarifies
Who is on the donor list?
The list of donors for the White House Ballroom includes several companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Coinbase, Hard Rock International, HP Inc., Tether America, T-Mobile and several billionaire investors. Meanwhile, the US president said he would contribute to the construction.
Musk, one of Trump’s biggest campaign donors
Elon Musk has spent around $288 million on Trump’s political campaign ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, making him one of the biggest political donors, according to a Washington Post report.
However, in May of this year, Musk said he intended to significantly reduce political donations going forward, signaling a departure from the approach of being a major Trump supporter.
“I think in terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less going forward,” Musk said during an interaction at the Qatar Economic Forum.
Read also | The White House has revealed the donors behind Trump’s $300 million ballroom renovation
Reflecting on why spending less on political donations, Musk said, “I think I’ve done enough.”
The Tesla boss went on to say that he might change his mind at some point.
“Well, if I see a reason for political spending in the future, I will,” Musk said.
“I don’t see a reason at the moment,” he added.
The Trump-Musk fallout
Elon Musk’s absence from the White House ballroom donor list comes after his public spat with the US president. Trump and Musk’s relationship soured earlier this year, with personal insults being exchanged on social media.
Although Musk participated in the government’s cost-cutting initiative by leading DOGE during Trump’s second term, their relationship soured over legislation ending tax credits for electric vehicles that directly affected Tesla, Bloomberg reported.
Read also | From Bowling Alleys to Ballrooms: How the First Families Reshaped the White House
However, Musk said his opposition was due to concerns about the “big beautiful law” and the growing federal deficit; he even proposed the creation of a third political party to compete with both the Republicans and the Democrats. Trump responded by warning that he would withdraw Musk’s government contracts and subsidies. However, both sides subsequently tried to find common ground.
Last month, when discussing Musk’s return to the GOP, Trump said on the Scott Jennings show, “I don’t think he has a choice.”
“He’s a good person. He came off the reservation, wrongly, and that’s okay because, you know, it’s just one of those things,” he added.
(With inputs from Bloomberg.)
