Watchdog Calls on Congress to Clarify Lobbying Disclosure Rules as Companies Dodge Reporting on Trump-Linked Donations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 17, 2026
Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Campaign for Accountability (CfA) filed a request for guidance with the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House asking for clarification on when lobbyists must disclose donations to organizations financed or designated by the President of the United States — a question that has taken on urgent significance as corporations including Apple, Lockheed Martin, and Meta have made large donations to organizations closely tied to President Trump without disclosing those contributions on required federal lobbying reports.
The Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) requires registered lobbyists to disclose contributions to organizations “established, financed, maintained, or controlled by” or “designated by” a covered official, including the president. But inconsistent filings by registered lobbyists suggest widespread confusion — or willful noncompliance — about when donations to two Trump-linked organizations, the Trust for the National Mall (TNM) and Freedom 250, must be disclosed on semiannual LD-203 reports.
TNM is the primary funding vehicle for President Trump’s proposed White House ballroom, a project the president has branded “The Donald J. Trump Ballroom at the White House” and claimed he would personally fund. Freedom 250 is a limited liability company capitalized by the National Park Foundation that is planning the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, with President Trump playing a central role in both fundraising and event planning for both organizations.
President Trump’s involvement with both entities goes well beyond typical honorary roles that public officials play with charitable organizations. He personally selected the design and construction firms for the ballroom project, directed his fundraisers to circulate pledge forms describing the project as his own, promised donors special White House access and personal meetings with the president in exchange for their contributions, and provided donors the option of remaining anonymous — despite having no formal control over either organization. Freedom 250 has been so publicly linked to the president that it is widely described as “a Trump-controlled group.”
Some LD-203 filers have concluded that these facts require disclosure and have included their donations to TNM on their reports. Others — including some of the largest corporations in America with substantial federal business — have not. That inconsistency signals that clearer guidance is needed.
CfA’s request asks the Secretary and Clerk to clarify two specific questions: when a covered official’s financial support for an organization is sufficient to render it “financed” by that official for reporting purposes, and what role beyond mere solicitation a covered official must play for an organization to be considered “designated” by that official under the Act.
CfA executive director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “Corporations don’t donate hundreds of millions of dollars to a president’s pet projects out of the goodness of their hearts — they do it because they want something in return. The American public has a right to know which companies are buying access. The Secretary and Clerk should clarify the rules so that lobbyists can comply and the public can follow the money.”
Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.