Amazon, Microsoft and T-Mobile among top donors to Trump's ballroom

Alexis Weisend, The Seattle Times on Oct 15, 2026

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SEATTLE — Three Seattle-area corporate giants, Microsoft, Amazon and T-Mobile, collectively donated $20 million to fund President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project, according to an internal spreadsheet obtained by The Washington Post.

The donations put them among the top donors of the project, estimated to cost $330 million.

Trump’s controversial White House alteration centers on building a 90,000-square-foot ballroom in the historic East Wing, which was demolished in October 2025. The new facility will also include office space and an underground military facility.

The project has moved forward without explicit congressional approval, leading to a major legal battle that's still playing out in the courts.

Although the White House shared the names of some donors last year, the list of 57 donations over $100,000 shows how much each of the donors handed out.

Tech titans Apple and Nvidia each donated an eye-popping $25 million. Redmond-based Microsoft, which gave $10 million, was also one of the project’s top 10 publicly named donors. Seattle-based Amazon and Bellevue-based T-Mobile donated $5 million each.

Microsoft and Amazon did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. A T-Mobile spokesperson declined to comment.

Last October, a Microsoft spokesperson said that the work is not only an asset for Trump’s presidency but also for future U.S. leaders.

“This project will benefit not only this presidency, but presidencies to come, as they welcome guests to the White House on behalf of the American people,” the spokesperson said in a statement at the time. “We contributed to this effort on October 1st (2025) to update a home built more than 200 years ago so that it can meet 21st century needs.”

A T-Mobile spokesperson said last year that the company's contribution was part of a larger donation to the Trust for the National Mall. The fund handles ballroom donations but also partners with the National Park Service “to restore and enrich the historic landmarks that define our nation’s capital, such as the White House ballroom,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“T-Mobile has no role in the use of those funds or decisions related to the construction of the ballroom.”

The donations have been criticized as an attempt to curry favor with the president.

The Post’s reporting does not establish a connection between the donation commitments and favorable actions by the Trump administration, the publication said.

Still, the donors, including Big Tech companies, have interests in the federal government. Meta and Palantir are among the major donors, along with Google, which gave $22 million for the ballroom as part of a settlement in Trump's lawsuit against YouTube for suspending his account following the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack.

The Washington Post report noted that some donors, which include individuals, have benefited from favorable regulatory decisions, government contracts and — in one case — a pardon for a family member.

The three Seattle-area companies have held a variety of contracts, mostly involving defense, with the federal government throughout a number of presidential administrations.

Microsoft and Amazon secured massive contracts this year as well. Microsoft received a $144.4 million contract in January from the U.S. Air Force for Azure services through 2028. Amazon Web Services won a Department of Homeland Security cloud contract in June worth up to about $2.6 billion over five years.

But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for Microsoft since donating.

The Trump administration announced last week it was suspending Microsoft and several other companies from a program allowing workers on H-1B visas to apply for green cards. Amazon, however, was not included in the suspension, despite being one of the top users of the H-1B program.