Overview

• Nearly 130 guests, including representatives from Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Palantir, Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, Coinbase and T-Mobile, attended according to the White House and press reports.
• Trump told attendees the project is fully funded, with reporting placing commitments around $200–$250 million, including $22 million from a YouTube settlement.
• The new venue beside the East Wing is already under construction and is slated to accommodate up to 999 guests with bulletproof glass on all sides.
• Ethics experts and Democratic officials condemned the corporate-backed event as pay-for-access as a government shutdown left many federal workers without pay.
• The ballroom has not received sign-offs from the National Capital Planning Commission or Commission of Fine Arts, which a White House aide says are unnecessary, and Trump also displayed models for a proposed arch by the Arlington Memorial Bridge.