Democrats introduce bill to restrict private donations for Trump’s $300M ballroom
Democrats have introduced a bill that would restrict donations to President Donald Trump. 300 million dollar ballroom project.
East Wing of the White House Demolished to make room for Trump 90,000 square foot gilded ballroom. It is estimated that it will cost 300 million dollars and Trump said it would be funded by dozens of people wealthy donors and corporations.
The Stop Ballroom Bribery Act, introduced Tuesday by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and California Rep. Robert Garcia, would ban donations from people with conflicts of interest, bar the president and vice president from contributing and require real names to be used when making donations, among other requirements.
“Billionaires and corporate giants doing business ahead of this administration are lining up to dump millions into Trump’s new ballroom — and Trump is showing them where to sign on the dotted line. Americans need not wonder if President Trump is building a ballroom to facilitate a pay-to-play scheme for political gain. My new bill will put an end to what clearly looks like bribery,” Warren said in a statement.
Independent He reached out to the White House for comment.
Democrats have introduced a bill aimed at restricting private donations to President Donald Trump’s $300 million White House ballroom (REUTERS)
Last month, the president told reporters that the project was “100 percent paid for by me and some of my friends.” Sponsors include tech giants Amazon, Apple Google and Microsoft, crypto companies Coinbase and Ripple, the Winklevoss twins and the Trade Minister’s family Howard LutnickAccording to the list provided by the White House.
Democrats said some donors were allowed to remain anonymous.
“The White House has refused to be fully transparent, only releasing a non-comprehensive list of donors that is missing multiple key donors, and offering anonymity to donors,” it said in a statement Tuesday. stated.
The legislation would require transparency, require donors to disclose meetings with the federal government within one year of the donation, and ban anonymous donations. The proposed bill states that quarterly the National Park Service would be required to publish the name of the donor, the amount contributed and meetings held with officials.
“It is outrageous that the White House will not disclose who is financing Trump’s pet project and that the people’s home may be financed by shady individuals, corrupt funds, and bad actors. This bill would prohibit donations from anyone with a conflict of interest, crack down on bribery, and ensure we can hold any administration accountable for blatant corruption,” Garcia said.
Last month, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal sent letters They asked the listed donors how much they had contributed to the ballroom project and whether they had reached an agreement in return for their donations. Only 16 donors have responded so far, but none have indicated how much they donated, CBS News reported.
Construction crews are removing the East Wing of the White House and preparing for construction of the new ballroom (Getty Images)
He said this about Trump $350 million raised by private donors.
“President Trump posted a ‘for sale’ sign on the White House and solicited hundreds of millions of dollars from special interest groups to finance his $300 million vanity project. Our action is a direct response to Trump’s ballroom generosity,” Blumenthal, a co-sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement.
“With common-sense reforms to how the federal government can use private donations, our legislation prevents President Trump and future presidents from using construction projects as tools for corruption and personal vanity.”
The proposed law also prohibits the display of donors’ names and logos to recognize the donation and imposes a two-year “cooling off period” before a donor to a covered project can lobby the federal government.
The bill would “cover the construction, improvement, or other alteration of property on the White House grounds, the residence of the Vice President, or other public property regularly used by the President or Vice President (such as Camp David or Air Force One); events held at such locations; and monuments or other structures honoring a living President or Vice President,” the statement said.
The bill is unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled House or Senate, and the proposal does not currently have any Republican co-sponsors.
It also seems unlikely that Trump will sign it and make it law.
