Washington — A newly revealed agreement between the White House, the National Park Service and the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall shows the inner workings of how President Trump and his allies are financing a $400 million overhaul of the White House East Wing.
The 14-page document, which was obtained by the left-leaning advocacy group Public Citizen and shared with CBS News, empowers the Trust to “accept donations in an amount sufficient to cover all costs” of the project, as determined by the White House. The agreement was signed by the parties in October 2025.
The agreement says that the Trust stands to receive a 2.5% fee on funds collected for the project, which CBS News reported soon after it was signed. That fee dips to 2% for any money raised in excess of $200 million. President Trump has said the $400 million renovation is fully financed, meaning the Trust stands to yield around $9 million.
Public Citizen sued to obtain the document under the Freedom of Information Act.
“This is the first time we don’t have to take the word of the White House — we can see details of this scheme in black and white,” said Jon Golinger, a democracy advocate for the group.
The agreement ensures that all parties involved will “preserve the anonymity and privacy of any donor who wishes to remain anonymous.” So far, the White House has provided the names of about three dozen individual and corporate donors, but declined to say how much each has given.
Under the October arrangement, the White House is responsible for “identify[ing] potential donors for the Project on behalf of the NPS” and referring them to the Trust, while specifying “whether the potential donor wishes to donate anonymously.”
“This document reveals that anonymous donations are the heart of this agreement,” Golinger said.
“As required by law and standard philanthropic best practices, the Trust shares the names of donors to the Trust in our annual impact report, on our website, and in our IRS 990 tax filings,” a spokesperson for the Trust said. “Some donors may wish to remain anonymous and we respect donor wishes, while in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.”
The spokesperson emphasized the Trust’s role is limited to managing donations and it has no hand in the design, planning, construction or execution of the project.
Foreign donors are prohibited from giving. For donations in excess of $25,000, the Trust is responsible for making “reasonable efforts to determine” whether the donor has pending litigation involving the Interior Department or is “engaged in or seeking a business or permit relationship” with the NPS.
Nothing in the contract prevents contributions from donors who have business before other components of the federal government. Amazon, for instance, donated to the project and has billions in federal contracts.
Fundraisers began soliciting contributions nearly a month before the Trust signed the agreement with the administration. Potential donors received pledge forms around Sept. 15, 2025, but the contract with the White House wasn’t fully signed until Oct. 8.
The mid-September pledge form made no mention of the 90,000-square-foot East Wing makeover. It said only that donations “shall be used in support of the White House Ballroom.” The October contract, though, specifies that donations are to be used for the “funding needs for the East Wing Modernization and State Ballroom project at the White House.”
Demolition crews began dismantling the East Wing on Oct. 20, despite the president’s earlier promise that the addition would not “interfere with the current building.” A White House official said in January that structural instability, water damage and mold made tearing down the building the most cost-efficient option.
In addition to the new ballroom, the design plans call for office space, a movie theater, kitchen and a two-story colonnade connecting the facilities to the main White House building. An underground bunker will also house sensitive military and medical infrastructure.
The agreement does not mention the underground construction, indicating that those components will likely be refurbished using taxpayer dollars. White House officials have yet to specify how much the below-grade modernization will cost.
A White House official said the East Wing contract has not been changed since it was signed in October.
The Trust has been a longstanding philanthropic partner of the NPS and has previously collaborated with the White House on smaller construction projects like the tennis pavilion and upgrades to the Rose Garden.
Late last week, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered a halt to above-ground construction until the East Wing overhaul gets congressional approval. But an appellate court has since allowed construction to continue until at least early June.
Leon has also questioned the funding mechanism, which calls on the Trust to collect hundreds of millions in private donations and turn the money over to the NPS, which then hands it off to the White House. Leon described the arrangement as a “Rube Goldberg contraption” in a recent ruling.
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