Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is raising concerns regarding the use of corporate donations to bankroll President Donald Trump’s expensive vanity projects in the White House.
Calls Out Corporate Bribery
On Sunday, in a post on X, Warren called out tech giants Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) for bankrolling Trump’s “gold-encrusted” ballroom, which is set to replace the White House’s recently demolished East Wing.
She added that a “bunch of other companies” with active business before the Trump administration were also contributing, prompting concerns about corporate bribery and favoritism.
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“They're not donating to Trump's ballroom out of the goodness of their hearts,” she said, noting that “it sure looks like bribery,” aimed at accruing special favors from the administration.
“The obvious question is, what are these corporate donors expecting in return for their money?” she asked, adding that she’s launched an investigation into this, citing “potential corruption” tied to the funding.
The companies named by Warren did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for a comment on this matter. This story will be updated as soon as we receive a response.
Bribery And Corruption Haunt Trump 2.0
Warren has called out the administration’s corruption and corporate bribery several times in recent months, starting with the SEC's approval of Brazilian meat processing company JBS SA (OTC:JBSAY) to list on the New York Stock Exchange, despite its history of corruption, price fixing, and safety violations.
She noted that the company’s subsidiary, Pilgrim's Pride, had contributed $5 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, which was the single largest contribution.
Recently, she also accused Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) of “bribery in plain sight” for donating $16 million to Trump’s Presidential Library. This comes ahead of the company’s merger with Skydance, which required the administration’s approval.
Trump has also come under criticism for accepting a 24-karat gold-plated plaque from Apple CEO Tim Cook early this year, before sparing the company from 100% tariffs imposed on semiconductors and chips.
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