White House Banquet Hall Donor Companies Secure Massive Federal Contracts

"Companies Are Seeking Favor from the Trump Administration"

It has been revealed that companies that donated funds for the construction of the White House banquet hall have maintained close ties with the administration, including winning federal government contracts.

On the 23rd of last month (local time), the demolition site of the East Wing of the White House in the United States. Photo by AP News Agency

On November 3 (local time), The Washington Post reported, citing a report by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, that 36 companies and individual donors who contributed to the banquet hall construction have secured $279 billion in government contracts over the past five years.

Among the 24 companies publicly listed as donors, 14 have either faced federal government sanctions or received deferred sanctions during the Trump administration's second term, due to unfair labor practices or consumer deception. For example, Amazon has been accused by the Department of Justice of concealing worker injuries, and Apple faced allegations of labor rights violations, though the National Labor Relations Board dropped the related charges in September.

Robert Weissman, Co-President of Public Citizen, stated, "These companies have significant interests with the federal government and are clearly seeking favor from the Trump administration. The millions of dollars spent to curry favor with President Trump are negligible compared to the billions in costs associated with government regulations and other issues."

Weissman also pointed out that public buildings should be constructed with public funds so that American voters can have a say, through their congressional representatives, in what and how such buildings are constructed. He urged these companies to withdraw their donations to projects that President Trump is unduly attached to.

The White House countered these criticisms by arguing that private donations are intended to reduce the burden on taxpayers. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, "Those who claim there is a conflict of interest would also complain if taxpayers had to bear these costs."

The Washington Post reported that among the companies mentioned in the Public Citizen report, Lockheed Martin stated that it has maintained cooperative relationships with all previous administrations to support the military and its allies with cutting-edge technology, and that it complies with all relevant laws and regulations in its cooperation with the federal government.