Trump’s Ballroom Donors Blow Off Senator’s Questions About How Much They Gave

WASHINGTON – When President Donald Trump released a list of private donors paying for the construction of his 90,000-square-foot, $300 million White House ballroom — and the demolition of the East Wing — he left lots of questions unanswered.

How much money did these billionaires and corporate CEOs give? Who approached them about donating in the first place? Are they expecting something in return? Are they actively lobbying the White House for other perks for their businesses or themselves?

Was this even a complete list of all the donors behind the ballroom project? (It that the company has a lot of government contracts within and outside of the U.S., and it has to be careful about how its arrangements are perceived and how a future Justice Department may deal with them.

“We’re quite conscious of risks we bear by doing anything that looks like, you know, buying favors or anything like that,” Dimon said.

Trump’s ballroom project is unpopular with the public. An ABC News/Washington Post survey from late October found just 28% of Americans backed the ballroom’s construction, with 56% opposed.