Blumenthal Presses BlackRock, Nvidia and OpenAI on Trump Ballroom Donations
Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Monday pressed BlackRock, Nvidia and OpenAI to explain news reports about their previously undisclosed donations to President Donald Trump’s proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom. Blumenthal previously also questioned Comcast, Google, T-Mobile and seven other tech companies that the White House publicly said donated to the Trump ballroom (see 2510230046). The Trump administration hasn’t disclosed how much each company donated.
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The decision to allow some donations to remain anonymous belies the White House’s “claims of transparency, and [raises] serious questions about why the Administration and these donors sought to keep their donations a secret in the first place,” Blumenthal said in letters to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI President Greg Brockman. “Many of the donors have deep financial, business, or other personal interests before the Administration. Many questions remain about the fundraising for this project, including the amount of each contribution, the agreement reached with each contributor, what promises may have been or may yet be made in exchange for what presumably will be substantial contributions, and why the White House chose to allow donors to remain anonymous and then lie to the public about that fact.”
Blumenthal demanded that BlackRock, Nvidia, OpenAI and other identified donors provide him with information by Nov. 14, including what Trump “or his representatives may have agreed to provide in exchange” for the money. He also wanted to know which administration officials solicited the funding and whether they entered into a “formal agreement.”
Nvidia is “proud to join many other Americans in supporting the U.S. government's new facility, which will host major events for generations to come, benefitting the entire American people,” a spokesperson emailed. “As an American company, our support for the United States is paramount, and independent of any business interests.” BlackRock and OpenAI didn’t immediately comment Tuesday.