Apple and Nvidia Gave $25 Million Each to Trump's White House Ballroom

Two of the world's most valuable companies each wrote a $25 million check for President Donald Trump's White House ballroom. According to a Washington Post investigation published October 15, 2026, Apple and Nvidia are among the top donors to the controversial project — tied for the largest individual donations in a fundraising drive that has collected $333 million in private money.

The figures come from an internal fundraising spreadsheet obtained by the Post, containing previously undisclosed details about who gave and how much. Reuters, which carried the story, noted it had not independently verified the report.

Who gave what

The $25 million club, per the Post's reporting, includes Apple, Nvidia, the Adelson family — longtime major Trump supporters — and billionaire Charles Ergen, the co-founder and chairman of Dish Network. Together, those four commitments account for roughly 30% of the $333 million total.

Other tech-sector donations reportedly include Google at $22 million (via settlement funds from Trump's YouTube lawsuit), Microsoft at $10 million, Palantir at $10 million, Amazon and Meta at $5 million each, and smaller checks from HP, Micron, Cisco, Coinbase, Ripple, ServiceNow, T-Mobile, and Salesforce. At least $77 million came from donors who requested anonymity. Notably, President Trump himself does not appear on the donor list — despite previously saying the project would be "paid for a hundred percent by me and some friends of mine."

Why the timing raises eyebrows

Watchdogs and legal experts say the donor list raises questions about transparency and influence, given that most donors have business before the federal government. Two details stand out: Nvidia's donation came nearly three months after the company struck a deal with Trump to sell advanced microchips to China, and Ergen's EchoStar committed its $25 million in two installments around the time regulators approved its license sale to AT&T after a dropped FCC investigation. The Post said its reporting did not establish a direct link between the donations and favorable government actions, and donors who responded denied any connection.

Nvidia told Reuters it was proud to donate to a nonpartisan trust serving Americans, saying its support for the United States is "paramount, and independent of any business interests." Apple declined to comment. The White House said it would not release donor information, with spokesman Davis Ingle dismissing "fake conflicts of interest" and arguing critics "would also complain if American taxpayers were footing the bill."

A $600 million ballroom

The project's scale keeps growing: the estimated construction cost has climbed to $600 million, with taxpayers expected to cover more than half, according to reporting on the investigation. Trump initially put the figure at $400 million, then unsuccessfully sought $1 billion from Congress for an underground bunker and security features.

The secrecy itself is the story for ethics experts. "When people with business before the government can give millions to the president's pet project, and the public can't see who or how much, there's no way to tell whether they're buying access or favors," Eric Petry of the Brennan Center for Justice told Reuters. The donations flow through a nonprofit into a White House account the president directly controls, under an agreement requiring donor anonymity.

For a project meant to symbolize the "People's House," the people are the ones not allowed to see the books.

For more on Big Tech's money moves, see Q3 bank earnings and the AI-trade jitters and Netflix's 1,000-job layoffs.

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