The National Park Service is now a Conduit for Trump’s Corporate-Funded White House Ballroom Project
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New Trump Administration court filings reveal key details about how the hundreds of millions of dollars donated by more than 40 corporations and billionaires are flowing to fund Trump’s White House ballroom project.
Filings in a lawsuit brought by a historic preservation group against Trump’s ballroom project reveal that, on November 13, 2025, the National Park Service (NPS) “accepted a private donation for the Project” and transferred those funds to the office of the Executive Residence at the White House, according to an affidavit filed by Jessica Bowron, Comptroller of the NPS. Bowron’s affidavit did not specify the amount or the source of this ballroom check, but the tax-exempt charity, the Trust for the National Mall, told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in November that it is working with the NPS and “managing the private donations gifted to support the project.”
In November, Sen. Warren and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, introduced the Stop Ballroom Bribery Act to root out apparent bribery and corruption involving President Trump’s ballroom. The bill would ban donations for presidential projects from entities and individuals with government contracts or other potential conflicts of interest, prohibit anonymous donations, and prohibit the names of donors from being engraved on the White House as some ballroom donors have been promised.
The court filings also reveal that the NPS is only serving as a conduit for the funding of the ballroom project and “donated funds received by NPS pursuant to NPS’s gift authority are being transferred to the White House Repair and Restoration Account,” according to an affidavit filed by Joshua Fisher, Director for White House Management and Administration, who was designated by Trump to manage the ballroom project.
In response, Public Citizen Democracy Advocate Jon Golinger said, “It’s sad that the National Park Service is being used as a tool to fund Trump’s pay-to-play scheme to funnel funds from tobacco, tech, crypto, government contractors, and other favor-seekers. Congress should fix the law to stop this corrupt funding scheme.”
In November, Public Citizen issued a report highlighting more than two dozen corporate donors and over a dozen billionaires, wealthy individuals and foundations who are backing the ballroom project, exposing a myriad of conflicts of interest concerns about pay-to-play government contracts and dropped enforcement actions. Last week, Public Citizen and local activists gathered in Washington D.C. outside the project’s first public hearing to protest the ballroom’s construction.