Tech companies including Apple have been told to turn over documentation regarding donations to the Trump ballroom, and threatened with subpoenas if they do not.
It's previously been reported that Apple donated $25 million to Trump's planned ballroom at the White House. Now following the midterms, such donations will be examined by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations under its new Democrat leader, Senator Richard Blumenthal.
According to Reuters, the senator called on Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and others to turn over their records. Right now this is voluntary, but when Blumenthal takes the leadership position in January 2027, the firms will likely be compelled under subpoena.
It's not the first time that Senator Blumenthal has raised the issue, as he wrote to certain firms about donations in 2025. "Many of the donors have deep financial, business, or other personal interests before the Administration," he wrote.
Reportedly, firms presumably including Apple did not respond to that letter, and the administration has ignored similar requests.
Senator Blumenthal has also called on FCC Chair Brendan Carr to disclose details of decisions including the Paramount Skydance merger. He criticized Carr's ordering an early license review of Disney's ABC-owned stations.
Blumenthal said that Carr's actions "erode and undermine freedom of speech and freedom of the press and bear on the laws governing media consolidation."
Referring to both Carr and the tech companies, he also said if documentation is not provided, "it will leave the subcommittee with no choice but to consider alternative measures to obtain compliance."
What happens next
Whether Apple discloses details voluntarily now or under subpoena in January, the subcommittee will clearly receive details of the donation. However, it's hard to see quite what those details can be beyond confirmation of the $25 million amount.
Then since there has already been demolishing work and some construction on the ballroom, it's unlikely that the project will be cancelled. Conceivably, the donations could be returned to the companies, but then the committed sums would have to come from the public purse.
What this will really achieve is to put a spotlight on just how Apple and others have been compelled to support the Trump administration. Trump himself has previously boasted about having Tim Cook "kiss my ass" to avoid certain extra tariffs, amongst other issues.
The demands of the administration were always going to be questioned the next time there was a Democrat President, or when Democrats took sufficient control of the house and senate. This may be why Tim Cook chose to make a personal donation to Trump's inauguration instead of Apple.
