What Companies Are Paying for Donald Trump's Inauguration?
Private donors have doled out $90 million on
Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, including some heavyweight
public companies, according to Business Insider. The report notes that this is about the same amount of money spent toward President Barack Obama's two inaugurations combined.
These companies include Boeing Co. (ticker: BA),
which gave $1 million just like it did back in 2013. Chevron Corp., on
the other hand, only gave $500,000, slicing its 2013 contribution in
half, per OpenSecrets, the website for the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics.
Verizon Communications (VZ) confirmed to Business Insider its donation of $100,000, AT&T (T) wouldn't reveal how much it spent and Coca-Cola Co.'s (KO) spending will be close to its 2013 amount (slightly more than $431,000).
The more money paid, the better the perks – like
"elegant" dinners with both the new president and vice president and
their wives, according to a brochure obtained by multiple news outlets.
Steve Kerrigan, CEO for Obama's 2013 inaugural
committee and his chief of staff in 2009, thinks the $90 million raised
is overdoing it.
"I can't imagine how they are going to spend that amount of money – and why they would even keep raising money," he told the Associated Press. "We planned the two largest inaugurations in the history of our country and we never spent anywhere near that."
Taxpayers pay for the president's swearing-in
portion of the inauguration, technically the only piece of the
inauguration required by the Constitution. Besides a portion of the
parade the U.S. military controls and pays for, the rest of the frills
come from donor support.
One source told Business Insider the donations serve as "buying time with the President and cabinet officials."
"There's a very self-serving reason for funding
the inauguration," according to Craig Holman, a government affairs
lobbyist at Public Citizen.