Executive Office of the President signed a White House ballroom donor contract shielding donors and exempting conflict-of-interest rules
On October 8, 2025, the White House, the National Park Service, and the Trust for the National Mall signed a contract governing hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations for President Trump's planned $400 million White House ballroom. The agreement bars disclosure of anonymous donors' identities and excludes the president and White House officials from the conflict-of-interest review it applies to the Park Service and Interior Department. The contract was not disclosed publicly until The Washington Post obtained it in April 2026, after the watchdog group Public Citizen sued and a judge ordered its release.