Lockheed, Palantir and Amazon helped fund Trump’s White House ballroom. They also share more than $50 billion in federal contracts

Corporate donors to President Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project have received more than $50 billion in new or expanded government contracts in the six months since demolition of the East Wing began. That’s according to a new report by the watchdog group Public Citizen, which alleges the contracts are the latest sign of a conflict-of-interest controversy that has dogged the project since its inception. The analysis examined 27 known corporate donors to the project—21 disclosed by the White House and six more identified by news organizations—and found that 14 had received new or increased government contracts over the past six months, totaling more than $50 billion. “This smells rotten, it looks bad,” said Jon Golinger, a public policy advocate at Public Citizen and co-author of the report. “The American people, from all polling and all other metrics, think that a huge amount of corporate money going to the ballroom, and then those companies seeking or receiving benefits from the government, is not an appearance that passes the smell test.” The top beneficiary by far was Lockheed Martin. The defense giant received roughly $43.8 billion in new or expanded contracts during the period, with Booz Allen Hamilton and Palantir following at $4.2 billion and over $1 billion, respectively. Lockheed, NextEra, Booz Allen, Amazon and Palantir didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Other donors collecting new or increased contracts included Microsoft ($318.7 million), Amazon ($255.7 million), HP ($197.3 million), Caterpillar ($142.6 million), Google ($16.4 million), and Comcast ($13.4 million). Golinger acknowledged that a company like Lockheed—the world’s largest military contractor—would likely have received significant defense contracts with or without any connection to the ballroom. But he argued that’s precisely the point. “That’s the problem with the President of the United States a