Blumenthal Presses Secret White House Ballroom Donors After New Details Emerge About $330 Million Fundraising Campaign for Trump's Pet Project

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), today demanded answers from more than a dozen previously undisclosed donors to the White House ballroom after recent reporting in The Washington Post revealed new details about the people, companies, and foundations behind the $330 million in private funds raised for the project. In letters sent to major donors to the project, Blumenthal raised concerns that previously undisclosed donors have benefited from favorable government actions, including regulatory decisions and government contracts. In a letter to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Blumenthal wrote, “Recent reporting reveals that you have contributed $1 million and your company has contributed approximately $2 million to the President’s centerpiece vanity project. I have previously written to dozens of companies and individuals who have given millions to the ballroom. Many have apparently attempted to keep their contributions secret, and have deep financial, business, or other personal interests before the Trump Administration.” Blumenthal continued, “The aggressive fundraising push by the President’s advisors suggests possible conflicts of interest and even corruption, and raises questions that Americans deserve to have answered. Particularly, what promises may have been made in exchange for substantial donations and why donors chose to remain anonymous.” In letters to Benioff and other previously undisclosed donors, including Charlie Ergen, Co-Founder, Chairman, President and CEO of Echostar Corporation; Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO of Cisco Systems; Bill McDermott, Chairman and CEO of ServiceNow; the Paul E. Singer Foundation; Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Kraken; Jeff Miller, founder of Miller Strategies; Ambassador Joseph Popolo Jr.; Max Haot, CEO of Vast Space; Sam Garrison, Chairperson of Honest Leadership Coalition; Connie S. Smith, President of SCS Smith Family Foundation; Tony and Maria Sayegh; Jason Miller; and Isabela Herrera, Blumenthal sought records, documents, and communications related to the donors’ contributions to the White House ballroom. As Ranking Member of PSI, Blumenthal is leading an inquiry into waste, fraud, and abuse associated with the White House ballroom and other projects throughout the nation’s capital. Blumenthal has repeatedly sought answers from private donors to the ballroom project as well as raised concerns to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about the ballooning costs associated with renovations to the White House and surrounding grounds, including the multi-million-dollar cost to taxpayers. The full text of Blumenthal’s letter to Benioff is below. Copies of today’s letters to donors are available here . Dear Mr. Benioff: Since last year, President Trump has solicited over $300 million in private donations to build what he has termed “the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom.” [1] Recent reporting reveals that you have contributed $1 million and your company has contributed approximately $2 million to the President’s centerpiece vanity project. [2] I have previously written to dozens of companies and individuals who have given millions to the ballroom. Many have apparently attempted to keep their contributions secret, and have deep financial, business, or other personal interests before the Trump Administration. [3] The aggressive fundraising push by the President’s advisors suggests possible conflicts of interest and even corruption, and raises questions that Americans deserve to have answered. Particularly, what promises may have been made in exchange for substantial donations and why donors chose to remain anonymous. [4] The American people are entitled to all the relevant facts about who is funding the most substantial construction project at the White House in recent history. As one of the individuals or entities recently identified by the Washington Post as an anonymous donor to the President’s ballroom, you possess critical information about the Administration’s management of this project, how your contribution was obtained, and what President Trump or his representatives may have agreed to provide in exchange. To assist the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in its inquiry into the financing of President Trump’s ballroom, please preserve all documents, records, [5] and communications [6] related to your contributions to the White House ballroom, and provide the following information by October 30, 2026: Please list all White House personnel or other representatives or associates of the Trump Administration or Trump family with whom you have spoken about the donation you and your company have made to the White House ballroom. Please identify the individual or individuals who solicited your donation, including the date(s) of any and all solicitations. Please describe the scope and nature of the discussions or negotiations with each individual listed. How did you determine the amount to contribute to the White House ballroom? Was this amount suggested to you by the President, Trump Administration officials, or other individuals representing or otherwise affiliated with the President or his family? If not, how did you determine the amount you contributed? Did you receive any documentation memorializing your donation or otherwise providing a receipt for the funds that you provided? If so, please provide a copy of that documentation. Did you enter into any formal agreement or other written terms in connection with your donation? If so, please produce a copy of that agreement. Did the White House offer you a choice for whether your name would appear on the list of donors released by the White House? If so, why did you choose to have your name remain anonymous? Please provide a list of all lobbying contacts you or anyone working on your behalf has made with the White House, or any executive agency, since January 20, 2025, including the date and subject matter of each meeting. Please contact the Subcommittee if you have any questions about responding to these requests. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, -30- [1] Jonathan O'Connell, Sarah Blaskey and Aaron Schaffer, Secret documents reveal donors behind $330 million for Trump’s ballroom , Washington Post (Oct. 15, 2026) https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/10/15/secret-documents-reveal-donors-behind-330-million-trumps-ballroom/. [2] Id. [3] Cat Zakrzewski and Jonathan Edwards, Trump wants a White House ballroom. These companies are funding it. , Wash. Post (Oct. 15, 2025), https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/15/trump-ballroomdonations-companies/. [4] Victoria Bisset, Here are the donors contributing to Trump’s White House ballroom , Wash. Post (Oct. 24, 2025), https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/24/trump-white-house-ballroom-donors-list/. [5] For purposes of this request, “records” include any written, recorded, or graphic material of any kind, including letters, memoranda, reports, notes, electronic data (emails, email attachments, and any other electronically-created or stored information), direct messages, chats, calendar entries, inter-office communications, meeting minutes, phone/voice mail or recordings/records of verbal communications, and drafts (whether or not they resulted in final documents). [6] For purposes of this request, “communications” include any records, as defined above, transmitted in any way between two or more individuals or entities.