A major electric utility company and oil mogul are helping to finance President Donald Trump’s project to demolish part of the White House and replace it with a massive ballroom.
Florida-based NextEra Energy and Continental Resources Chair Harold Hamm were listed among the more than three dozen companies, individuals, foundations and others the White House said Thursday have donated to the 90,000-square-foot space for Trump to host events, which he said could cost upward of $300 million, up from the previous estimate of $200 million.
The donor list revelation came days after crews started to tear down the White House’s East Wing, a section of the mansion that has traditionally housed offices for the first lady and her staff. It was first built in 1902 and expanded in 1942. Trump had previously said only a façade from the East Wing would be torn down.
Photos of the construction, while most of the federal government is shut down because of congressional gridlock, elicited outcry on social media and among Democrats and conservationists. The National Park Service owns the White House grounds and has been a key part of previous construction projects there.
Trump acknowledged Thursday that the project’s scope had expanded, and defended it. “In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure,” he told reporters.
Trump said the East Wing “was a very small building,” and the determination to knock it down came after a “tremendous amount of study with some of the best architects in the world.”
“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,” he said.
The president has promised the project will be paid for completely with private funds and no taxpayer money will go to it. The money is going through the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit NPS affiliate, CBS News reported.
Representatives of NextEra and Continental did not return requests for comment on their donations. The White House did not say how much donors have contributed.
Other donors include construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar; freight railroad Union Pacific; and Pepe and Emilia Fanjul, whose family owns Florida Crystals, a sugar company that frequently clashes with environmental advocates over its ecological impact. Those donors’ representatives also did not respond to messages.
NextEra is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. It owns Florida Power & Light, as well as major wholesale electric generation assets and transmission infrastructure.
It has significant renewable energy and nuclear power generation, as well as natural gas. The company lobbied extensively this year for Republicans to save clean energy tax credits. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act rolled back most of them.
Deputy Interior Secretary Katharine MacGregor is a former executive at NextEra.
Hamm was an early supporter of Trump’s 2016 campaign and counts himself as an ally to the president. Trump considered nominating Hamm to be Energy secretary in his first term, but Hamm did not want to have to give up his Continental holdings; he nonetheless has been a close informal adviser on energy issues.
Hamm soured on Trump after the president left office in 2021, and initially donated to some of Trump’s primary rivals, but came back around to once Trump became the clear 2024 GOP front-runner. Hamm has ties to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and pushed for Burgum’s involvement in the president’s 2024 campaign.
The oil executive has contributed more than $3 million to Trump’s presidential campaigns, super political action committees supporting his campaigns and other pro-Trump causes.
Other donors to the ballroom are in the technology, cryptocurrency, finance and tobacco sectors, among other industries, as well as some Cabinet members.
