Trump hosts glitzy dinner for wealthy donors to new White House ballroom

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed nearly 130 deep-pocketed donors, allies and representatives of major companies for a dinner at the White House to reward them for their pledged contributions to a massive new ballroom.

The ballroom, whose price tag is now estimated at $250 million, is the most significant renovation that Trump, a former real estate mogul, is undertaking during his second term at the White House.

All four sides of the ballroom -- which Trump said will be large and grand enough to hold even a presidential inauguration -- will be made of bulletproof glass, with its colour, window shape and molding keeping in character with the White House. Trump indicated that the fundraising and managing costs for the "phenomenal" ballroom were going well, predicting that he would have money left over after the project is done.

"To me, there is nothing like the White House," Trump said, later adding, "It is just a special place so we have to take care of it."  Men in business suits and women in cocktail attire sat at a dozen round tables, decorated with tall, tapered candles and white floral arrangements, and sipped wine and water as they awaited their dinner to be served on gold-trimmed plates. Later, they would dine on an heirloom tomato panzanella salad, beef Wellington and a dessert of roasted Anjou pears, cinnamon crumble and butterscotch ice cream.

Among the companies that had representatives at the dinner, according to a White House official, were Amazon, Apple, Booz Allen Hamilton, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, Lockheed Martin, Meta Platforms and T-Mobile. The Adelson Family Foundation, founded by GOP megadonors Miriam Adelson and her late husband Sheldon, also had a presence there.

Oil billionaire Harold Hamm, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, Small Business Administration chief Kelly Loeffler and her husband, Jeff Sprecher, and crypto entrepreneurs Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss were all on the guest list. The list of attendees was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Also attending the dinner were Chris LaCivita, Trump's co-campaign manager from his 2024 reelection bid, Reince Priebus, a White House chief of staff during Trump's first term, and Jason Miller, another longtime political adviser.

The new ballroom is planned for the area where the East Wing is located and will encompass 90,000 square feet. The White House has previously said it will have a 650-person capacity, but Trump on Wednesday night said it will be able to hold up to 999 people.

The ballroom project has yet to receive approvals from the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, although White House staff secretary Will Scharf, who was also tapped by Trump to lead the planning commission, says approval is not needed. The commission vets construction of federal buildings.

At the dinner, Trump said there are no zoning requirements for him as the president of the United States and he can do whatever he wants with the construction.

The president has repeatedly complained that large White House events require construction of a tent on the South Lawn, since the East Room -- the current largest space at the White House -- can accommodate only about 200 people.

At the dinner, Trump also formally unveiled another project: an arch that will stand on one end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Potomac river and connects Virginia and the District of Columbia. He showed off several miniature models of the proposed arch -- which will feature Lady Liberty on top -- in three sizes, although Trump acknowledged that the largest was his favourite.

"It is going to be really beautiful," Trump said.