Donors for Trump's $300m White House Ballroom Include Google, Apple and Palantir

Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago

beardyw

48 points

19 comments

theguardian.comOtherstory

heatednegative

Debate

70/100

Donald TrumpCampaign FinanceTech Industry Influence

Key topics

Donald Trump

Campaign Finance

Tech Industry Influence

The Guardian reports that tech giants like Google, Apple, and Palantir have donated to Trump's $300M White House Ballroom renovation, sparking controversy and debate among HN users about the intersection of tech and politics.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Moderate engagement

First comment

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0-2h

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Comment distribution17 data points

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Based on 17 loaded comments

Key moments

01Story posted
Oct 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM EDT
2 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Oct 23, 2025 at 10:27 AM EDT
2m after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
9 comments in 0-2h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03
04Latest activity
Oct 24, 2025 at 5:51 PM EDT
2 months ago
Step 04

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Discussion (19 comments)

Showing 17 comments of 19

zerosizedweasle

2 months ago

5 replies

Tech and AI is acting like there will totalitarian rule and right wing will rule forever. Maybe so, but we aren't there yet. Setting themselves up to reap the whirlwind when another party takes power.

cool_man_bob

2 months ago

1 reply

> Setting themselves up to reap the whirlwind.

Reap what? The second your side gets power again, your politicians will tuck their tails between their legs and let them off with a light scolding.

zerosizedweasle

2 months ago

1 reply

Nah, not this time, they've gone way too far for that. I think Democrats will make a real big effort to make peace with the average GOP / Trump supporter, but not the elite enablers.

renewiltord

2 months ago

Amusing. The typical businessperson anywhere complies with whatever rules an admin requires in order to do their business. The typical politician wants to create a loyalty based system since that allows him to be a kingmaker.

One of the defining aspects of low-corruption societies is that they don’t have the loyalty based systems and instead have rule of law. But now we see how the loyalty systems come about: it isn’t the politician who makes it; it’s the populace.

Given a single deviation from the low-corruption norm, they demand loyalty test based operation and would rather move towards high-corruption.

A low-corruption society is therefore an unstable equilibrium. The moment a norm deviation occurs, the people desire greater norm deviation.

thebruce87m

2 months ago

1 reply

When do we accept it? Trumps third term?

wturner

2 months ago

All the right wingers yelling about elite conspiracies, pedo's etc. Trumpism is a group of them wallowing in plain site. Right wingers sure got quiet. It's called white identity politics and big tech sure flocked to it when the door opened. DEI for wealthy white sociopaths

lithos

2 months ago

They aren't. House reps and Senators both spend over half their time fundraising, they're gonna behave perfectly normally and ignore whatever they need to for fundraising purposes.

duxup

2 months ago

People in power tend to like totalitarianism, it's an easy pathway to buddy up to whomever is in power and get around all those pesky issues like competition, rules, etc.

The masses shouldn't, but sometimes they do, foolishly.

insane_dreamer

2 months ago

> we aren't there yet

we're getting pretty darn close; all we need is a subverted election -- if it almost succeeded in 2020 you can be sure it's going to succeed in 2028 -- to close the circle

elheffe80

2 months ago

1 reply

Sweet! Can we get advertising on the inside of the WHB for all the sponsors? Maybe some cameras connected to AI to ensure people are enjoying themselves...

shepik

2 months ago

"brought to you by Carl's Jr"

jfengel

2 months ago

1 reply

So... if the building is being paid for by Trump (sourced from these donors), does that mean he continues to own it even after he leaves office? Or is he donating these White House improvements to the American people?

Perhaps he would choose to knock it down at the end of his term. I'm not sure under what terms the President is given the White House. It doesn't sound like there's any requirement to return it in the condition they find it.

aljgz

2 months ago

The end of the term? Let's hope that exists.

insane_dreamer

2 months ago

Maybe those who are losing food stamps or healthcare because there isn't enough money for that, can get a free tour?

ferrouswheel

2 months ago

Good time to purge these slop fascists from your digital life.

When people show you who they are, believe them.

stopbulying

2 months ago