After saying earlier that his ballroom project “won't interfere with the current building,” in October 2025 he had the entire White House East Wing demolished to build one, proceeding without sign-off from the federal commission that normally reviews such changes, and against roughly 98% negative public comments. The cost roughly doubled to about $400 million, and the private donors covering it include corporations with business before his government, Apple, Google, Meta, Palantir, and Lockheed among them.
SourcesThe White House donor list (The Hill) · Those donors' $50B in federal contracts (Public Citizen) · Demolition and cost, CNBC
