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Is Comcast helping fund Trump's $250M ballroom? MSNBC's parent company among the list of donors to fund White House's controversial renovation

Trump's massive renovation project has become the talk of the country, with latest revelation of the names of its donors renewing public interest.
  • WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: The White House is seen on March 09, 2025 in Washington, DC. An armed man was shot by U.S. Secret Service personnel Sunday morning following a confrontation outside the White House. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
    WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: The White House is seen on March 09, 2025 in Washington, DC. An armed man was shot by U.S. Secret Service personnel Sunday morning following a confrontation outside the White House. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

    On Wednesday, October 22, the Trump administration released a list of donors who had contributed to the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom in White House. The ongoing project, which is estimated to cost about $250 million, has been revealed to be fully funded by donations. 

    One of the donors on the list is Comcast, the parent company behind NBCUniversal and MSNBC. Other companies joining Comcast on the list include Hard Rock International, HP Inc.,T-Mobile, NextEra Energy, Booz Allen Hamilton, J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul, Micron Technology, Altria Group, Palantir Technologies, Ripple Inc., Reynolds American, Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Coinbase.

    Despite the name of the donors revealed, there is no information about how much money each donor has contributed or how they are planning to use it. Karoline Leavitt - the White House Press Secretary - has shared that Trump, who is one of the investors donating to the project, intends to disclose his donation eventually, Deadline reports. 


    Trump's White House renovation extends beyond the ballroom 

    It seems like the donations aren't the only aspect of the White House renovation that lacks transparency. What was initally promised as a ballroom construction project has now grown by leaps and bounds. 

    On Monday, media outlets revealed that the entire East Wing of White House was demolished. A day later, the demolition continued to spread further, before the President himself acknowledged it in a Truth Social post (on Wednesday, October 21).

    Announcing that ground had been broken on the ballroom project, Trump added:

    "Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!"

    Further in the post, Trump applauded himself for being the first President to get the ballroom project - which, in his words, every President before him had "dreamt about" - underway. He also reassured the public that the project was fully funded and added no cost to the American taxpayers. 

    Acccording to MSNBC, both the East and West Wings of the White House are later additions to the original structure of the White House, which were built during the term of President Theodore Roosevelt. 

    The East Wing was designed to serve as an entry passage for Roosevelt's guests, complete with a long cloakroom for hats and coats. Meanwhile, the West Wing was initially constructed as a temporary structure to provide residence to the growing presidential staff.

    This isn't the first time structural changes are being made to the White House. However, Trump's renovation is expected to be the priciest one ever, estimated to be thrice as expensive as those done in the 1950s. Trump's move to make these renovations also appears to be swifter since he doesn't need the funds for it from the Congress.

    TOPICS: Donald Trump, Comcast, White House