Trump's White House secret contract exposed: Who's funding this controversial project?

A federal judge has ordered a stop to construction on U.S. President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project.

The judge ruled that Congress must authorize the most significant renovation to the executive mansion in decades.

The ruling came as the contract exposed a secret fundraising deal that enabled major government contractors to contribute anonymously without any conflict-of-interest scrutiny.

The fourteen-page contract signed in October 2025 and acquired by Public Citizen through litigation indicates that the White House, the National Park Service, and the Trust for the National Mall worked together in formulating a fundraising mechanism described as a “Rube Goldberg contraption.”

The fourteen-page contract signed in October 2025 and acquired by Public Citizen through litigation indicates that the White House, the National Park Service, and the Trust for the National Mall worked together in formulating a fundraising mechanism described as a “Rube Goldberg contraption.”

In the contract, it is explicitly mentioned that all involved parties will “preserve the anonymity and privacy of any donor who wishes to remain anonymous.”

Whereas the trust ensures there are no conflicts between the donors and the Interior Department and the National Park Service, the White House, from which the donors are identified and referred to, does not face any such screening.

United States District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of George W. Bush, called this system “a Rube Goldberg contraption” and ordered that construction be halted until Congress approved the project.

Major tech and corporate donors are:

• Amazon
• Apple
• Coinbase
• Google
• Lockheed Martin
• Microsoft
• Meta Platforms
• Palantir Technologies
• Ripple
• Tether America
• HP
• Micron Technology
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• Caterpillar
• Comcast
• Altria Group
• Reynolds American
• T-Mobile
• Union Pacific
• NextEra Energy
• Hard Rock International

Individuals and family foundations are:

• Lutnick family (Howard Lutnick, Trump's Commerce Secretary and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald)
• Winklevoss twins (Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini cryptocurrency exchange)
• J Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
• Stefan E. Brodie
• Harold Hamm
• Benjamin Leon Jr.
• Stephen A. Schwarzman
• Konstantin Sokolov
• Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
• Paolo Tiramani
• Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
• Edward and Shari Glazer
• Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
• Adelson Family Foundation
• Betty Wold Johnson Foundation

Trump defends the project as “historic beautification at no taxpayer expense.” As part of the project, demolition of the East Wing started in October 2025, just 12 days after the contract was signed.