Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Monday said he hopes Republicans investigate why corporations donated funds to go towards President Trump’s ballroom, set to be constructed adjacent to the White House where the East Wing once stood.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Blumenthal that the corporate donors won’t “tell a senator if there’s an implicit agreement with the White House when it came to a big donation they made to a ballroom.” Blumenthal said these donors likely won’t disclose any “personal and business and financial interests.”
“But the question that the American public can ask is, what are they hiding?” he continued. “Second point: I am writing as the ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. If I were the chairman, I‘d have subpoena power and they would have to answer.”
“I‘m hoping that maybe some of my Republican colleagues think it is in the public interest for the American public to know the answers to these questions,” Blumenthal said.
On Thursday, the White House released a list of corporate donors that are contributing to the ballroom’s construction. Some of the companies include Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft and T-Mobile.
Originally, the construction was expected to cost $200 million, but Trump on Wednesday said it would be $300 million. As of Tuesday, the White House has raised almost $350 million for the project, an administration official told The Hill.
The president hired Clark Construction to build the new ballroom addition, with design renderings from McCrery Architects, according to the White House.
The new ballroom is set to be developed as an extension of the East Room and is expected to hold up to 650 people. On Oct. 20, Trump said it may hold “999” people.
To make way for the ballroom, demolition crews tore down the historic East Wing. The demolition resulted in an outpouring of emotions from preservationists, Trump critics and previous White House residents.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and comedian Bill Maher both brushed off the demolition while focusing on other issues. Whitmer said the focus should be on families affected by the government shutdown. Maher suggested that ballroom’s construction indicates Trump’s “not leaving” and could seek a third term.
Former aide to first lady Jill Biden Michael LaRosa said the demolition was “heartbreaking” but emphasized that the ballroom is “probably needed.” Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton, called the demolition “a wrecking ball to our heritage” in a USA Today op-ed.
“Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill posted on the social media platform Bluesky an image of a partially constructed Death Star — the Galactic Empire’s space station capable of destroying a planet — in the space where the ballroom will be. Hamill captioned the image with one of the series’ repeated lines, “I have a very bad feeling about this…”
One source of praise came from The Washington Post editorial board.
“The White House cannot simply be a museum to the past. Like America, it must evolve with the times to maintain its greatness. Strong leaders reject calcification. In that way, Trump’s undertaking is a shot across the bow at NIMBYs everywhere,” the Post’s editorial board wrote in an opinion piece.
