White House Ballroom investigation row: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who is facing scrutiny over alleged Chinese spy links, was among donors. Check list

A US attorney has asked Senator Richard Blumenthal to preserve documents related to his investigation into donors funding the construction of President Donald Trump's new White House ballroom. In a letter dated November 11, US Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Aaron Reitz accused Blumenthal of intimidating citizens for associating themselves with Trump and other public officials. He described the senator's actions as an attempt to interfere with constitutionally protected associations and philanthropic activities.

"After the election, @SenBlumenthal & his allies think they can intimidate Americans for their constitutionally protected associations w/ President Trump. Congress is not a weapon to be wielded against the American people. I'm taking the first step to stop this abuse of power," Reitz said in a post on X, sharing the letter.

In his letter to Blumenthal, Reitz wrote: "In recent weeks, you have threatened citizens for associating themselves with the President and other public officials. Yet the 'freedom to engage in association for the advancement of beliefs and ideas is an inseparable aspect' of our Constitution and way of life.


"It is also extraordinary for an elected official to intimidate citizens for engaging in philanthropic practices that will benefit our nation for generations. The American people are entitled to freely associate without elected officials terrorizing them with aggressive, harassing government action."

Reitz further demanded that Blumenthal preserve all documents, communications and electronically stored information related to his investigation. He cited potential violations of federal laws, including 18 U.S.C. Sections 241 and 242, which address conspiracies against constitutional rights and deprivation of rights under colour of law.

The letter warned that failure to preserve relevant evidence could result in sanctions, adverse-inference instructions or other penalties. It also extended the preservation demand to Blumenthal's staff, employees, agents, consultants and campaign personnel.

Blumenthal, however, said he "will not be intimidated" and vowed to "vigorously pursue investigations into this Administration's persistent misuse of taxpayer dollars and any corporate entity that has enabled their boundless corruption."

"The Trump Administration is so afraid of transparency & oversight that they are weaponizing the Department of Justice to baselessly target Congress in direct violation of the Constitution," Blumenthal added in a post on X.

Who funded Trump's White House ballroom?

The construction of Trump's new White House ballroom has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in commitments from major corporations, wealthy individuals and philanthropic foundations. Trump initially estimated the project would cost around $200 million. He later said he intended to raise $400 million for the work.

According to an investigation of The Washington Post last month, an internal fundraising spreadsheet showed that private donors had committed approximately $333 million to the project as of late September 2026. At least $77 million came from contributors who requested anonymity.

The White House had previously publicly identified 37 companies, individuals and foundations as donors without disclosing their individual contributions. The publicly identified donors include:

Companies and corporate donors:

• Altria Group
• Amazon
• Apple
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• Caterpillar
• Coinbase
• Comcast
• Google
• HP
• Lockheed Martin
• Meta
• Micron Technology
• Microsoft
• NextEra Energy
• Palantir Technologies
• Ripple
• Reynolds American
• T-Mobile
• Tether
• Union Pacific Railroad

Individuals and foundations:

• J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
• 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

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang among major contributors

The Washington Post's investigation identified Nvidia, Apple and the Adelson family as some of the biggest contributors to the ballroom project. Each committed $25 million, according to the newspaper's review of internal fundraising records. Billionaire Charles Ergen, co-founder of Dish Network, also committed $25 million.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had previously acknowledged that the company was contributing to the project, although he did not disclose the amount. The company's $25 million contribution was among those that donors had requested be kept anonymous.

Other major contributors included Lockheed Martin and Microsoft, which each committed $10 million, while Meta and Amazon each contributed $5 million, according to The Post's investigation. Google also committed $22 million through a settlement of its lawsuit with Trump.

Huang has recently come under scrutiny following reports about his alleged relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data company Megaspeed, whom US authorities reportedly identified as a Chinese intelligence asset.

Nvidia's board has launched an independent investigation into whether its CEO was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. Huang has said he will cooperate with the inquiry.

Did Donald Trump contribute to the ballroom?

Despite previously saying that the project would be funded by him and his supporters, Trump's name does not appear among the donors in the internal fundraising spreadsheet obtained by The Washington Post.

Trump had said in 2025 that the project was being paid for "100 percent by me and some friends of mine."

The newspaper's investigation found that the $333 million in private donations was being channelled through the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit organisation. The arrangement allows donors to request anonymity.

The Post earlier this year reported that the overall construction estimate, including the new East Wing, ballroom, office space and an underground military facility, had risen to approximately $600 million.

The newspaper said its investigation did not establish a connection between the donations and favourable actions by the Trump administration.