{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-response-to-warren-and-democratic-senators-trust-for-the-national-mall-refuses-to-answer-questions-about-possible-corruption-involving-trumps-ballroom", "In Response to Warren and Democratic Senators, Trust for the National Mall Refuses to Answer Questions About Possible Corruption Involving Trump\u2019s Ballroom", "2025-11-07", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "In Response to Warren and Democratic Senators, Trust for the National Mall Refuses to Answer Questions About Possible Corruption Involving Trump\u2019s Ballroom\n\n\u201cIf the Trust for the National Mall has become a tool for favor-seeking between billionaires and the President of the United States, the American people deserve to know.\u201d\n\nText of Response Letter (PDF)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 In a response to an October letter from U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Wyden (D-Ore.), Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Markey (D-Mass.), the Trust for the National Mall refused to answer questions about its role in fundraising efforts for President Trump\u2019s new White House Ballroom.\n\nBillionaires and billionaire corporations with business in front of the Trump administration have funneled money to the new ballroom, raising questions about potential corruption. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon this week explained that the bank has not given to the ballroom because \"we're quite conscious of risks we bear by doing anything that looks like buying favors or anything like that.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf the Trust for the National Mall has become a tool for favor-seeking between billionaires and the President of the United States, the American people deserve to know. It\u2019s my job as a United States Senator to uncover possible corruption and get answers for Americans. I\u2019ll keep pushing to find out if the Trust is facilitating wink-and-nod arrangements between Trump and his billionaire ballroom donors \u2014 and what these donors are getting in return,\u201d said Senator Warren.\n\n\u201cThe Trust for the National Mall\u2019s response is insultingly unsatisfactory. It\u2019s an insult to our intelligence and their integrity. The President is abusing this respected nonprofit institution to facilitate special interest access and fund his $300 million vanity boondoggle. Billionaires and big corporations are exploiting this vehicle to cozy up to Trump. It will be diminished in credibility and trust as it becomes entrenched in Trump\u2019s quicksand. The American people deserve to know whether there have been any quid-pro-quos or backroom favors for donating to his gilded ballroom project. I\u2019ll continue to press for answers,\u201d said Senator Blumenthal.\n\n\u201c$300 million in private donations are bankrolling Trump\u2019s vanity project at the White House, with much of it coming from corporate interests with high-stakes matters before the federal government. The Trust\u2019s wholly inadequate response to our letter only deepens our serious concerns that they are enabling a major pay-for-play scheme, allowing the wealthy and megacorporations to curry favor with a lawless president \u2013 all while Trump refuses to negotiate the end of his government shutdown. Given Trump\u2019s clear pattern of shaking down businesses in exchange for sweetheart deals with his Administration, we will keep working to shine a light on these donors and what\u2019s motivating them \u2013 including whether they expect favorable treatment in return for their \u2018generosity,\u2019\u201d said Senator Van Hollen.\n\n\u201cAs Americans struggle to feed their families and federal workers struggle without pay, Trump builds a golden ballroom funded by billionaires and large corporations. We demanded answers about Trump's corruption and pay-to-play politics and got zero answers. Public office is a public trust \u2014 not a VIP suite for the highest bidder,\u201d said Senator Markey.\n\nThe Trust was established as a nonpartisan, nonprofit partner of the National Park Service. But the scale of funds raised for President Trump\u2019s ballroom, President Trump\u2019s personal involvement in fundraising for the project, and the number of corporate donors with business before the Trump Administration raised questions for the lawmakers about whether the organization is facilitating these donors\u2019 corrupt access to and favor-seeking from President Trump and his administration.\n\nOn October 23, the senators pressed President and CEO of the Trust, Catherine Townsend, and National Park Service Comptroller Jessica Bowron, about the exact agreements in place regarding the building of the ballroom, the source and amount of donations, whether the donations are charitable deductions, and more.\n\nIn the Trust\u2019s response, Townsend confirmed the Trust is \u201cmanaging the private donations gifted to support the [ballroom] project,\u201d but refused to answer questions regarding the agreements between President Trump, the White House, and the Trust with regard to funding and building the Trump Ballroom.\n\nTownsend also declined to release details about the donations made to date, along with any terms and conditions related to each of these donations, saying \u201cdonor names and identifying information are not subject to public disclosure under [federal law].\u201d\n\nTownsend directed the senators additional questions about the project to the National Park Service and the White House.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-response-to-warren-and-democratic-senators-trust-for-the-national-mall-refuses-to-answer-questions-about-possible-corruption-involving-trumps-ballroom"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4789467677474022, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}