Democrats seized on a report that President Trump accepted a donation of foreign steel to be used in the White House ballroom, saying it showed disrespect toward American steel workers and raised questions about possible corruption.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that ArcelorMittal, a steel company with headquarters in Luxembourg, had arranged a large donation of steel produced in Europe to form the structure of the White House ballroom.
Mr. Trump publicly mentioned the donation, which he claimed was worth $37 million, last October without revealing the identity of the donor. Days after his remarks, the administration announced a tariff exemption that would benefit ArcelorMittal.
On Friday, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sent a letter to administration officials saying the move “casts doubt on the president’s commitment to supporting the American steel industry.”
“President Trump’s solicitation of donations for his illegal ballroom reeks of corruption,” she said. She added that dozens of corporations with business before the federal government had donated to the ballroom, even as they sought federal contracts or other favors.
The letter asked Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, and Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, to supply information to lawmakers on the nature of the donation and the administration’s relationship with ArcelorMittal.
Other Democrats, including those whose states are home to the U.S. steel industry, raised similar concerns about using foreign steel for such an iconic American building.
“I think it’s a slap in the face to American steel workers, that the president of the United States would knock down the East Wing and rebuild it with foreign steel,” Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania said during a news conference Thursday.
A congressional aide, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said that Democrats would initiate an investigation on the subject if they were to regain a majority in Congress this year.
A White House spokesman said in a statement that donors for the ballroom project represented an array of American companies and generous individuals.
“The same critics who are alleging fake conflicts of interests, would also complain if American taxpayers were footing the bill for these long-overdue renovations,” said the spokesman, Davis Ingle.
Mr. Trump was “making the White House beautiful and giving it the glory it deserves at no cost to the taxpayer — something everyone should celebrate,” he added.
ArcelorMittal declined to comment.
Groups representing U.S. steel companies and workers have also bristled at the idea of foreign steel in the White House, particularly for a president who has promised to revive domestic mills.
Roxanne Brown, the president of the United Steelworkers union, said that “tens of thousands of American steelworkers stand at the ready to supply our nation with high-quality products.”
“Any changes, any renovations, any updates to it should first draw on the resources our domestic workers proudly provide,” she added, referring to the White House.
Mr. Trump has said that he has raised the money for the ballroom from wealthy donors, including major tech and crypto companies. The White House has made public the names of some donors to the project, but others remain secret.
While Mr. Trump has claimed the steel donation is worth $37 million, the exact value is uncertain. Several architects said a more realistic total for a building like the ballroom might be several million dollars, but the total extent of the White House project, including plans for an underground bunker, remains unclear.
Mr. Trump spoke about the donated steel at a White House event last October for wealthy donors to the ballroom, saying the executive of a “great steel company” had approached him offering a gift.
“He said, ‘Sir, I’d like to donate the steel for your ballroom,’” Mr. Trump told the crowd. “I said: ‘Whoa, that’s nice.’ And I found out — ‘How much is the steel?’ I called the contractor. ‘Sir, it’s down for $37 million.’ I said, ‘This is a nice donation, right?’”
Two days after Mr. Trump made those remarks, the White House issued a proclamation with a provision that would benefit ArcelorMittal.
The provision authorized the commerce secretary to reduce by half tariffs for steel producers who export automotive steel from Canada or Mexico into the United States. The adjustments would be limited to quantities of metal “equal to newly committed United States production capacity, as determined by the secretary,” the document said.
Steel industry analysts and executives said the exemption could benefit ArcelorMittal, which has a major automotive steel facility in Canada and has committed to expanding a facility in Alabama. (The Alabama facility makes a type of rolled steel used in cars and appliances, not the type of structural steel that forms the skeleton of a large building like the ballroom.)
A White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the subject, pushed back on the idea that there was any quid pro quo, calling the idea of a link between the tariff exemption and the donation “tenuous.” The official said that no company had yet received the tariff exemption outlined in the proclamation, and that the provision would benefit other steel companies, too.
Democrats have already targeted the ballroom project as a symbol of troubling ethics in the Trump administration, after Mr. Trump directed the sudden demolition of the East Wing of the White House last fall.
On March 31, a federal judge ordered the administration to pause construction on the ballroom, saying that the project needed approval from Congress. The judge said that the administration had provided questionable accounts of its authority to accept private donations for the project.
The judge paused his ruling for two weeks to allow the Trump administration to file an appeal, which it did within hours of the ruling.
Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.
Ana Swanson covers trade and international economics for The Times and is based in Washington. She has been a journalist for more than a decade.
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