Majority of corporate Trump ballroom donors represented by 3 lobbying firms, watchdog says
MGN
The majority of the corporations known to have donated to the fund for President Trump’s new White House ballroom are represented by three lobbying firms, according to a new report from government accountability watchdog Public Citizen.
Lobbyists from those three firms — Miller Strategies, Ballard Partners and Michael Best Strategies — mingled last month with the president and executives from America’s top technology and cryptocurrency companies over tomato salad and Beef Wellington.
The event took place in the White House East Room, a space that will one day adjoin the new $300 million ballroom, and was arranged to recognize donors who privately funded construction that’s now underway. Guests included representatives from more than two dozen nationally recognized firms, like tobacco giant Altria, Comcast, Microsoft and T-Mobile.
Several companies retained more than one of the lobbying firms in 2025, paying hundreds of thousands annually for advocacy before Congress and the Trump administration.
CBS News also found that a fourth firm, Akin, provided lobbying or legal services to at least nine of the donor companies, according to 2025 federal lobbying disclosures, and one of its lobbyists also attended the East Room dinner.
Lobbyists were instrumental in connecting their corporate clients with ballroom fundraisers, multiple sources told CBS News.
Reince Priebus, formerly Mr. Trump’s chief of staff and now president of Michael Best Strategies, attended the fundraising dinner. So did Jeff Miller and Brian Ballard of their namesake firms. Geoffrey Verhoff was Akin’s representative on the guest list, according to CBS News sources.
Priebus, Miller, Ballard and Verhoff declined to comment.
The Public Citizen report, which relied on lobby disclosure forms, revealed Ballard Partners represents 11 corporations that have donated to the ballroom: Amazon, Booz Allen Hamilton, Comcast, Extremity Care, Hard Rock International, NextEra Energy, Palantir, Reynolds American, Ripple, T-Mobile and Vantive.
Brian Ballard was a fundraiser for Mr. Trump’s campaign. Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles were affiliated with Ballard Partners before joining the Trump administration.
Miller Strategies had six donor clients: Altria, Apple, Comcast, Micron Technology, Palantir and Tether.
Lobbying records show Miller also represents a cryptocurrency firm founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss — twin brothers who donated to the ballroom.
Priebus’ firm, according to the report, had five donor clients: Hard Rock International, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Ripple and T-Mobile.
CBS News found that Akin’s lobbying and legal clients in 2025 included at least nine ballroom donors: Altria, Booz Allen Hamilton, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, Micron Technology, Microsoft, NextEra Energy and Vantive.
On Tuesday, Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff sent a list of questions to Priebus, Ballard, Miller and political fundraiser Meredith O’Rourke, requesting information about their roles in soliciting funds for the ballroom.
The senators want to know when they were enlisted in the fundraising effort, with whom they’ve communicated in the president’s orbit, how much they were asked to raise and whether they’ll receive a cut of the proceeds.
“The sheer amount of fundraising necessary to complete this project has clearly required coordination and expertise,” the senators wrote. “The American people are entitled to all the relevant facts about who is funding the most substantial construction project at the White House in recent history.”
The senators also asked which companies they’ve solicited donations from and how much those firms donated.
They said they were seeking greater transparency and disclosure around the project. None of the lobbyists nor O’Rourke are accused of legal wrongdoing.
