A new piece of federal funding legislation and a high-profile security incident involving US President Donald Trump have brought the White House ballroom project and its gaming-related donors squarely back into the spotlight, about six months after the property’s East Wing was demolished.
On the legislative side, Republican senators are looking to push through a $72 billion federal funding package this week. That total includes $1 billion earmarked by the Secret Service for “security adjustments and upgrades” to the “East Wing Modernization Project”. The project encompasses the ballroom as well as other security and medical facilities.
Security is top of mind in DC, about two weeks after a shooting incident at the Washington Hilton. On 25 April, Cole Allen, a 31-year-old teacher and engineer from California, attempted to storm the White House Correspondents’ Dinner armed with multiple guns and knives before being subdued by Secret Service agents. Federal prosecutors have charged Allen with the intent to assassinate Trump. He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Monday.
Trump stressed to the press afterward that a secure ballroom is needed to prevent such incidents. The money from the Senate package cannot be used for non-security related developments, but detractors have accused the administration of using the shooting to elicit public funds for the project. Trump has pledged that the $250 million ballroom will be financed through donations.
Last October, the White House released a list of 37 donors to the project, two of which come from the gaming industry: Hard Rock International and the Adelson Family Foundation. Hard Rock declined to comment on the donation on Monday. The foundation did not respond to email requests from iGB and could also not be reached via telephone.
US Gov’t: Ballroom paid for by ‘patriot donors’
On the White House website, the government says the ballroom “will be a much-needed and exquisite addition” to the property. The 90,000-square-foot addition will be an “ornately designed and carefully crafted space”, with construction said to be finished “long before the end of President Trump’s term” in early 2028.
“President Trump, and other patriot donors, have generously committed to donating the funds necessary to build this approximately $250 million dollar structure,” the website says. “The United States Secret Service will provide the necessary security enhancements and modifications.”
Of the two gaming-related donors, the Adelsons’ contribution is not surprising. The late Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson and his widow Miriam have been among the biggest individual political spenders in US history. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Adelsons donated more than $500 million to Republican causes between 2010 and 2021. At the time of his death in January 2021, Sheldon Adelson had an estimated net worth of approximately $35 billion.
Miriam Adelson, one of the largest individual donors during the 2024 US presidential election, contributed more than $100 million to Trump’s campaign. Then, last December, at a White House Hanukkah celebration, she jokingly offered him $250 million to run again in 2028.
“Sheldon was an amazing guy,” Trump said at the same event, noting that the former casino mogul visited him often at the White House during his first term. “There was nobody more aggressive than Sheldon,” he added.
Sands’ influence not translating to US growth
Sands does not operate in the US and focuses solely on properties in Asia. It is currently the world’s most valuable gambling company by a wide margin. As of Tuesday, its market cap of $34.5 billion is almost double Aristocrat’s second-place figure of $19.9 billion.
Nevertheless, Sands has tried unsuccessfully to expand domestically in recent years despite its political reach. The company was a preliminary bidder for a downstate New York casino but ultimately withdrew its Long Island proposal due to fears of iGaming legalisation, which it viewed as inevitable.
With New York out of the question, Sands has set its sights on building an integrated resort in Texas. While Miriam Adelson has stepped up her contributions to pro-casino candidates, the movement appears to be losing steam. The Texas Legislature meets only in odd years, and progress that had been made in previous sessions was undone in 2025. Additionally, longtime gaming opponent Lt Governor Dan Patrick is seeking reelection in 2026.
Sands pushed hard last year for a mixed-use development in Irving, Texas, on the site of the Dallas Cowboys’ former Texas Stadium. The Adelsons own the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks franchise and wish to build an arena complex there with a casino and hotel. But while Irving officials gave initial approval, Sands retracted the casino element in response to pushback and a lack of legislative progress. Undeterred, Sands has listed new job postings for Dallas-area casino management developers.
A company spokesman told the Dallas Morning News that Sands likes the Dallas region for its “strong concentration of skilled technology talent, robust infrastructure and thriving innovation ecosystem supported by leading universities”.
What is Hard Rock’s motivation for donation?
If the Adelsons’ connection to the White House is obvious, Hard Rock’s is less so. The Seminole-owned company is among the most successful tribal businesses in the US, and Indian Country has not always been friendly with Trump across his two terms.
However, Hard Rock Chairman Jim Allen did previously serve as vice president of operations for the Trump Organization, overseeing the president’s Atlantic City casinos in the early 1990s.
More recent connections seem to be less friendly. Hard Rock purchased the former Trump Taj Mahal in 2017, and Allen lamented to the Associated Press at the time that the company would have to spend a lot to scrub Trump’s influence from the property. “Jesus! What were we thinking?”, Allen said.
Trump’s position on tribal gaming
The Taj Mahal is one of three former casinos Trump owned on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. Decades before his successful White House bid, Trump launched an aggressive campaign against tribal casinos on the East Coast. He argued in a 1993 federal lawsuit that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act violated the Constitution’s 10th Amendment, then appeared at a Congressional hearing months later before the House Subcommittee on Native American Affairs. There, he took aim at the Mashantucket Pequot in Connecticut, which opened a year earlier.
By March 2017, Hard Rock announced the purchase of the Taj Majal from investor Carl Icahn. Months later, the Interior Department provided assistance to the tribe in the wake of Hurricane Ida, representing the first-ever emergency declaration by the White House for a tribal nation in response to a natural disaster. Trump’s first administration also supported the tribe through Covid-19 relief prior to his 2020 defeat to Biden.
Other contributors to the ballroom project include Amazon, Apple, Meta and Google. The White House has not disclosed the amounts of individual donations. An iGB inquiry to the White House communications office on Tuesday was not immediately returned.
The Big Apple
Unlike Sands, Hard Rock is growing rapidly across the US, most notably in the markets Sands left. Hard Rock’s massive Las Vegas Strip project celebrated a topping-off ceremony last week with plans to open in late 2027. Once complete, the Strip property will be located less than a mile from The Trump International Hotel Las Vegas.
In New York, the operator is partnering with Mets owner Steve Cohen to build Metropolitan Park, an $8 billion casino and entertainment district around Citi Field in Queens. Hard Rock and Cohen were among the biggest lobbyists in New York City for three consecutive years in the run-up to licensure last December.
As the only White House ballroom donor directly involved in the casino industry, the motivation for Hard Rock’s support remains to be seen, especially with multiple projects already under way.
Jess Marquez
Jess has covered the global gaming industry since 2022. A native of Reno, Nevada, he’d like to note that it’s Ne-va-da, not Ne-VAH-da.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/casino-games/white-house-ballroom-donations-may-2026/
