Breaking down claim Trump paid himself 2.5% contractor fee on new White House ballroom

In July 2026, a rumor circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump took a 2.5% contractor fee on the construction of the new ballroom set to replace the East Wing of the White House.

The claim spread on X and Facebook, with users claiming Trump would make $10 million due to the renovation.

(Facebook)

In short, it was not possible to independently verify whether Trump or anyone related to him received such a kickback, but Snopes found no evidence of this occurring. For this reason, we left the claim unrated. 

Social media users appeared to misunderstand a document that public interest watchdog Public Citizen obtained in April 2026 as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The document is an agreement between the White House, the National Park Service and Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit organization.

According to the document, the White House and the NPS authorized the Trust for the National Mall — which the agreement refers to as “the Partner” — to receive donations for the construction of the ballroom. The agreement says the nonprofit could keep 2.5% of the first $200 million in cash donations and 2% of the remaining $200 million (Page 9, Section III, A, 9). 

Snopes could find no evidence the Trust had passed on any portion of the donations to Trump or his family. In addition, we identified no clear ties between the leadership of the independent, nonpartisan organization, and Trump or his family.

For example, the newest members of the board of directors — who are appointed internally (see Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15A at the bottom of the page) and with no intervention from the U.S. government — joined in June 2021 as the Trust began planning for America’s 250th anniversary. At that point, former U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, had been in office for less than six months. The Trust’s President and CEO, Catherine Townsend, was named in April 2016, when former U.S. President Barack Obama, also a Democrat, was finishing his second term.

The members of the Trust’s board of directors are chosen among industry leaders in various sectors. Further, its mission is mainly to raise private funds to help restore and improve the National Mall and the President’s Park that surrounds the White House. In other words, it is and has always been within the Trust of the National Mall’s purview to act as a funding partner for the NPS and the White House for these two parks.

We contacted the White House, the Trust for the National Mall, the NPS, Public Citizen and Clark Construction — the contractor hired to build the ballroom — and await their responses.

On June 30, The Washington Post reported that the White House hand-picked Clark Construction for a $500 million contract to build the ballroom. The contract was not a competitive bid — according to the newspaper — which is typically required for such projects in order to save taxpayers’ money. 

Snopes has previously covered several rumors regarding the ballroom. The president and his administration have repeatedly said that Trump and private donors would foot the bill for the renovation. A May 2026 Republican budget proposal suggested, however, that $1 billion in government money could help fund the U.S. Secret Service’s enhanced security around the structure, as Snopes reported in early May 2026. (Though we concluded, at the time of publication, that the claim U.S. taxpayers would pay $1 billion for the White House ballroom were unproven.)

According to The Washington Post, the ballroom will cost three times the estimates presented in July 2025, more than half of which will be paid with public funds. It was not possible to independently verify this reporting.