Corporate Chiefs Gave Trump's Inaugural Committee $250 Million. Benefits Abound.

[Nevilledog]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/trump-inauguration-funds-corporations-oligarchy/

Donald Trump’s inaugural committee raised almost $250 million, much of it from donors who are seeking—and in many cases have already received—valuable favors from the administration of the famously transactional president.

The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed the committee’s filing ahead of a Sunday deadline, reported that the funding haul far exceeded what the committee needed for the January 20 event, leaving millions of dollars (it’s not clear exactly how much) in a fund Trump can use for other purposes. His aides have said the surplus will help fund Trump’s planned library and charities aligned with the president.

Donations to the inauguration by tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta—apparently eager to display fealty to Trump—have previously drawn criticism, but the new filing reveals that a far larger group of companies and rich Americans also kicked in.

The largest reported donor, at $5 million, was Pilgrim’s Pride, a poultry company that is owned by the massive Brazilian meat conglomerate, JBS. The firm has faced substantial criticism for its business practices. Mother Jones recently reported on the plight of Haitian refugees working at a JBS beef processing facility in Greeley, Colorado, which a union has faulted for a dangerously fast factory line. Those workers now face deportation.

*snip*

[Retrograde]

1. How much did his inauguration actually cost?

IIRC the actual oath taking was moved indoors because of weather. Was there a parade? What about the usual series of inaugural balls? Is anyone trying to account for the "donations"? For that matter, what happened to the investigations into the 2017 inauguration - which was IIRC an order of magnitude less expensive?