Writing History – Symbols Matter

Some photos hit you in the gut. Monday’s photo of the destruction of the East Wing of the White House is one of those. As most of you know, I’m Canadian not American, but I’ve been to Washington and visited the White House – truly a monument to America’s history and democracy. What many call the People’s House.

For those who don’t want to read political posts, please check back for more historical fiction on the next post.

I guess they were wrong. Donald Trump has destroyed a major portion of that monument without consulting with anyone other than those in his administration. Without seeking the permission of Congress, which I understand he was supposed to do. Without any regard for what the building means to the people of America.

And why? We all know why. Because he wants a massive ballroom. It boggles the mind.

Now here’s another important part of the equation. Each of these people/organizations noted below donated money – yes, it’s always about money – and will have their names featured in some way throughout the new ballroom. Perhaps at the base of a column? Over a doorway? Beneath a window? By the way, almost every major news sources has published these names as well – but I wanted to investigate each name for myself to understand who they are.

Who are these people?

• Altria Group – the owner of several major American companies with interests in tobacco products and wine, most notably Philip Morris Inc
• Amazon – needs no explanation except that Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides cloud services to the US government, including federal, state, and local agencies
• Apple – I’m sure also a huge beneficiary of government purchasing; additionally, Apple CEO Tim Cook is promising to move some of its manufacturing back into the US to avoid tariffs
• Booz Allen Hamilton – holds numerous US government contracts, primarily Dept of Defense (now Dept of War) The company derives a significant portion of its revenue from this work. 
• Caterpillar Inc – donated $1.4 million to the Republican party and spent $4.4 million in lobbying efforts
• Coinbase – Brian Armstrong CEO and Coinbase were major donors to a political action committee that helped Trump and other pro-crypto candidates during the 2024 election
• Comcast – owner of CNBC and other media corps; a major donor and lobbyist
• J. Pepe & Emilia Fanjul – major sugar can producers; lobbying with Trump’s encouragement to get Coca-Cola to use US produced sugar
• Hard Rock International – Hard Rock International (owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida) bought the Trump Taj Mahal casino for $50 million
• Google – Trump is now targeting Google after Meta and X made payouts for lawsuits against those companies
• HP Inc. – focuses on personal computers and printers with the US Federal Government as a major client
• Lockheed Martin – relies on government contracts in Defense/War and the US space program
• Meta Platforms – Mark Zuckerberg – one of the tech bros supporting Trump
• Micron Technology – plans to invest approximately $200 Billion in semiconductor manufacturing and R&D in Idaho, New York and Virginia
• Microsoft – another tech bro; in September Donald Trump demanded that Microsoft fire former Biden Justice Department official Lisa Monaco, who Trump has previously blamed for federal investigations into his mishandling of classified documents and alleged election interference; could this be a clue?
• Nextera Energy – is an American energy company and the world’s largest electric utility holding company; energy is a major focus of the Trump administration
• Palantir Technologies – in May, Donald Trump tapped Palantir to collect data on Americans
• Ripple – another crypto titan
• Reynolds American – financial ties to Donald Trump, including significant donations to his political campaigns and inauguration. These donations are related to the company’s interest in influencing regulations, particularly regarding tobacco and e-cigarettes.
• T-Mobile – another tech company
• Tether America – Tether hired Trump’s top crypto official Bo Hines to help lead US Stablecoin expansion
• Union Pacific Railroad – ahead of, yes, another merger … Union Pacific has a direct tie to Donald Trump through recent high-level meetings where Trump expressed support for its proposed merger with Norfolk Southern
• Adelson Family Foundation – Miriam Adelson is worth $34.6Billion and since the 2010s has been one of the largest donors to the Republican party. In addition to wealth protection, she is a strong supporter of Trump’s support for Israel.
• Stefan E. Brodie – owner/found of Purolite, a chemical company … my guess is that deregulation is one of the important issues leading people like Brodie to support Trump
• Betty Wold Johnson Foundation – the foundation is connected with Woody Johnson one of the heirs of the company Johnson & Johnson and owner of the New York Jets has contributed more than $4.7 million to Trump’s campaigns
• Charles & Marissa Cascarilla – Charles Cascarilla is co-founder of Paxos, a financial technology company delivering blockchain solutions for global financial institutions. Another crypto guy.
• Edward & Shari Glazer – Edward Glazer along with his brothers is an owner of Tampa Bay Buccaneers; significant Republican donor
• Harold Hamm – was a fundraiser and donor to Donald Trump’s 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential campaigns; he is the owner of NextEra see above
• Benjamin Leon Junior – donated $2.5 million to the presidential campaign of Marco Rubio and has also donated to the Republican Party of Kentucky and Mitch McConnell; appointed ambassador to Spain by Trump
• The Lutnick family – this would be the family of Howard Lutnick who is now Trump’s Commerce Secretary; he has a long and close relationship with Trump
• Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation – in 2024 they donated $10 million to the newly formed Right for America super-PAC led by Sergio Gor in support of the Trump campaign
• Stephen A Schwarzman – was chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group, a global private equity firm; and chairman of Trump’s Strategic Policy Forum; a long time friend of Trump, he is also a billionaire
• Konstantin Sokolov – entrepreneur and investor
• Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher – is the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (a Trump appointment) and a former U.S. Senator for Georgia, while her husband, Jeff Sprecher is the founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange; also major Republican donors
• Paolo Tiramani – billionaire American industrial designer and entrepreneur; donated $10 million to Trump’s ballroom; runs a multibillion dollar housing company
• Cameron & Tyler Winkelvoss – cryptocurrency billionaires

As noted above, for the most part billionaires, crypto currency investors and players who want to deregulate and grow the industry, long-term and multi-million dollar Republican donors, major Trump campaign donors, a bunch of leaders in the tech industry, corporations seeking deregulation, big government business, or special treatment, and some finance/hedge fund players. Most of them fit in more than one category.

My expectation is that they’re all looking for some sort of payback – are you surprised? – through positions of influence, regulatory change, favourable tax reductions for the rich such as those proposed in the OBBBA, industry support, or ongoing government business.

These business leaders embolden Donald Trump by their willingness to dance to his tune.

History is unfolding before our very eyes. In my opinion, this history will not be remembered with admiration by future historians or historical fiction authors. Action is imperative to avoid further destruction of American democracy.

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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.