Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) was widely mocked for his preposterous idea that any 2028 Democratic presidential candidate pledge to demolish President Donald Trump’s ballroom.
“Don’t even think of seeking the Democratic nomination for president unless you pledge to take a wrecking ball to the Trump Ballroom on DAY ONE,” Swalwell wrote on X on Saturday.
Swalwell followed up with another post to X that read, “Or, as @RubenGallego proposes, rename it the Barack Obama Ballroom. But a Trump monument to corruption will not stand.”
The Democratic lawmaker was called out by conservatives and lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who wrote, “these people are deranged.”
“I thought you guys were against demolishing anything at the White House,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote.
On Thursday, the White House released a list of donors covering the costs to build Trump’s new ballroom.
The White House confirmed the list to The Hill amid demolition of the East Wing to make room for the ballroom. The demolition has sparked controversy and pushback from historians and preservation groups.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the project would cost $300 million, up from the initial $200 million estimate the White House shared at the end of July.
“Over the years many presidents have made changes. This obviously would be the biggest change. But this is something they’ve wanted for at least 150 years,” Trump said.
Donors include major companies, as well as wealthy individuals like Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and construction executive Paolo Tiramani. Trump hosted many of them for a dinner at the White House last week.
Many of the companies, such as Apple, Amazon, Meta and Google, have sought to strengthen ties with the Trump administration.
Here is a list of the companies and individuals donating to help pay for the ballroom, according to the White House:
- Altria Group, Inc.
- Amazon
- Apple
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Caterpillar, Inc.
- Coinbase
- Comcast Corporation
- J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
- Hard Rock International
- HP Inc.
- Lockheed Martin
- Meta Platforms
- Micron Technology
- Microsoft
- NextEra Energy, Inc.
- Palantir Technologies Inc.
- Ripple
- Reynolds American
- T-Mobile
- Tether America
- Union Pacific Railroad
- Adelson Family Foundation
- Stefan E. Brodie
- Betty Wold Johnson Foundation
- Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
- Edward and Shari Glazer
- Harold Hamm
- Benjamin Leon Jr.
- The Lutnick Family
- The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
- Stephen A. Schwarzman
- Konstantin Sokolov
- Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
- Paolo Tiramani
- Cameron Winklevoss
- Tyler Winklevoss
