Trump ballroom donor list

News · Heat 1.1 / 10 · 2 shows · 9m airtime

The Washington Post published a donor list for Trump's ballroom on October 16, naming previously undisclosed contributors who benefited from regulatory decisions, government contracts and, in one case, a pardon. Julio Herrera Velutini, an international banker indicted in 2022 over financing a Puerto Rico governor's campaign, received a pardon. Marc Benioff committed $1 million the day after Trump thanked him for a Time magazine cover, and asked to stay anonymous. Reporting since then has established that about half the donors also received federal contracts during Trump's second term. The discussion centers on the overlap between giving and contracting, and on the timing of the Benioff gift and its anonymity request.

How 2 podcasts covered it

1. The Bulwark Daily, 2026-10-16 (11:41 to 15:26)
   Walks the ballroom donor list and Benioff's gift
   Walks the Washington Post's donor list for Trump's ballroom: the pardon for indicted banker Julio Herrera Velutini and Marc Benioff's previously unreported $1 million gift, made the day after Trump thanked him for a Time cover.
   New angle: Marc Benioff committed $1 million to Trump's ballroom the day after Trump thanked him for a Time cover, and asked to stay anonymous.
2. Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, 2026-10-20 (59:23 to 1:05:00)
   Walks the donor list and contract overlap
   Walks the Washington Post donor list line by line - Adelson at $25 million, Apple at $25 million, Google at $22 million, Perlmutter at $20 million, Lockheed and Microsoft - and pairs it with the paper's finding that about half the donors hold federal contracts in Trump's second term.
   New angle: About half the ballroom donors also received federal contracts during Trump's second term.