Alphabet is helping pay for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, according to federal court filings.
As part of a legal settlement reached last month with Trump, Alphabet, which owns YouTube, is contributing $22 million toward Trump’s White House construction plans. Trump sued the tech giant after it suspended his YouTube channel for two years, following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Images showing demolition work on the East Wing to make way for the ballroom have sparked scrutiny this week and renewed the question over who’s paying for the estimated $250 million, 90,000-square-foot addition.
According to court filings in Oakland, California, Alphabet’s contribution, which accounts for roughly 10% of the total projected cost, will be made on Trump’s behalf to the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit entity dedicated to restoring and preserving the National Mall.
“The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly,” Trump said Monday on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump said in July that the ballroom construction would not “interfere” with the current building.
“It’ll be near it but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” Trump said of the East Wing in July during an executive order signing.
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The New York Times reported earlier today that the entire East Wing is being demolished.
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It is unclear exactly who else will be footing the bill for the ballroom aside from Alphabet, or if Trump himself would privately contribute to the project. A list of potential donors attended a dinner at the White House on October 15, including executives from Blackstone, Palantir, Lockheed Martin, and OpenAI.
According to a White House statement in July, the ballroom is being designed by DC-based McCrery Architects, which specializes in religious architecture and boasts a portfolio of designing cathedrals and monasteries. A construction team led by Clark Construction and an engineering team headed by AECOM are in charge of the demolition and building process.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
