A watchdog report said 14 of 27 known corporate donors to President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project received more than $50 billion in new or expanded U.S. government contracts in the six months after demolition began. According to BeInCrypto, Lockheed Martin accounted for $43.8 billion, with Booz Allen Hamilton at $4.2 billion and Palantir over $1 billion; Microsoft, Amazon, HP, Caterpillar, Google and Comcast also received awards.
Public Citizen’s Jon Golinger called the pattern “smells rotten,” while the White House dismissed the findings. The report also said 16 donors face live federal enforcement actions or had actions suspended, including Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, NextEra Energy, Nvidia, T-Mobile and Union Pacific.