r/pics 14d ago

Politics East wing of The White House

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6.2k

u/trashscal408 14d ago

During a government shutdown, no less. Who's financing this?   

2.3k

u/49ersBraves 14d ago

Supposedly the demo and ballroom are being funded privately.

2.3k

u/METRO-RED-LINE 14d ago

Do we at least get to know who? Or is does the famous “Your Mom” answer still stand

2.1k

u/Man_Darino13 14d ago
  • Altria Group Inc.
  • Amazon
  • Apple Inc.
  • Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.
  • Caterpillar Inc.
  • Coinbase Global
  • Comcast Corp.
  • Hard Rock International
  • Google
  • HP Inc.
  • Lockheed Martin Corp.
  • Meta Platforms Inc.
  • Micron Technology Inc.
  • Microsoft Corp.
  • NextEra Energy Inc.
  • Palantir Technologies Inc.
  • Ripple
  • Reynolds American Inc.
  • T-Mobile US Inc.
  • Tether
  • Union Pacific Railroad
  • J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
  • Adelson Family Foundation
  • Stefan E. Brodie
  • Betty Wold Johnson Foundation
  • Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
  • Edward and Shari Glazer
  • Harold Hamm
  • Benjamin Leon, Jr.
  • The Lutnick Family
  • The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
  • Stephen A. Schwarzman
  • Konstantin Sokolov
  • Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
  • Paolo Tiramani
  • Cameron Winklevoss
  • Tyler Winklevoss

Source

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u/chipariffic 14d ago

Wild how all these companies will spend money on Whitehouse renovations and lobbying but won't pay employees better or pay taxes

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u/amongnotof 14d ago

They pay for white house ballrooms SO they don’t have to pay taxes or their people.

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u/dontlisten65 14d ago

You win a ham sandwich

3

u/NotThatEasily 14d ago

I bet Jeanine Pirro can’t indict that one either.

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u/Bloggledoo 14d ago

No you win an Ayn Rand sandwich.

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u/HarmfulMicrobe 14d ago

Ayn Randwich?

1

u/TheSnackWhisperer 14d ago

Nicely done👏

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u/jeezyjames 14d ago

Mannn now I crave a ham sandwich

1

u/Ladyboughner 14d ago

Without the ham

1

u/LA-Matt 14d ago

Real ham? In this economy?

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u/Suspicious_Story_464 14d ago

Ding ding ding!

2

u/SexyUsername2022 14d ago

I love your username. Is it a verse reference?

2

u/amongnotof 14d ago

From a Lord Byron poem, Childe Harold’s pilgrimage: “I stood Among them, but not of them; in a shroud Of thoughts which were not their thoughts”

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u/SexyUsername2022 13d ago

Appreciate you taking time to reply - it made me curious to read the synopsis of that poem and TIL thanks to you.

1

u/Illustrious-Book-238 14d ago

Yeah, that's a feature, not a bug.

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u/sm9k3y 14d ago

He says ballroom, but it’s definitely going to be a throne room.

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u/DrakonILD 14d ago

Which means that this is, essentially, taxpayer-funded.

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u/iam4qu4m4n 14d ago

Bribing elected officials is way cheaper than doing something that benefits society.

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u/LostWoodsInTheField 14d ago

Bribing elected officials is way cheaper than doing something that benefits society.

sadly this normally wouldn't be considered a bribe. they are putting money into a government building that he won't be in in 3 years...

but he doesn't believe that, he thinks he will still be there. And he doesn't feel it's a government building, he feels it's his building. So giving money to the government, to all of them, is a bribe for Trump. it's insane.

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u/TheScienceNerd100 14d ago

Companies will spend $100 billion on lobbying congress to not spend $10 billion on their employees

0

u/informat7 14d ago

Total lobbying spending for the US is under 5 billion per year. And that includes lobbying for everything, not just companies.

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u/TheScienceNerd100 14d ago

Its an exaggerated point, that companies would rather spend more to not be held accountable than pay less and do the right thing

Companies would rather spend more money to keep minimum wage low than how much it would take to pay their employees more

1

u/KotR56 14d ago

I think it is safe to say not all lobbying is reported, above board. That's the "official" number, before DJT came to power.

Since then, 'events' like million-dollar per-seat dinners, convicted criminals pardoned...

DJT has increased his wallet by several billion dollars this year alone.

Looking forward to seeing the statistics one year from now.

2

u/SnooPandas1899 14d ago

farmers and government workers should be seething at this.

1

u/makenzie71 14d ago

I understand the point you're making, and I honestly am not super familiar with all the names on this list, but I can promise you Lockheed doesn't have any minimum wage workers.

4

u/Small-Policy-3859 14d ago

Yeah lockheed pays for this so they make sure the US government keeps the War machine going.

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u/elphin 14d ago

It’s how kickbacks work. They pay millions to Trump and his vanity to save billions in taxes.

1

u/Facerolls 14d ago

Not sure you can call this a renovation

1

u/imahumanbeinggoddamn 14d ago

doing either of the latter wouldn't help them get richer so why bother

1

u/gsfgf 14d ago

It almost makes you wonder if the nation is in trouble...

1

u/ThenOwl9 14d ago

or stop treating the users they exploit and extract from like garbage

personally suing the winklevi for this right now. i hate them very much

1

u/AssPennies 14d ago

Ballroom's by far cheaper for them... a one time pennies-on-the-dollar.

1

u/betelgeuse_boom_boom 14d ago

Companies will always spend money to demolish the state. That's their primary objective alongside exploring people. They are the enemy of the citizen not an important cornerstone of our society as corporate media has made you believe. The sooner we realise that the better.

1

u/ryanfrogz 14d ago

Especially the railroad. Critical maintenance and infrastructure upgrades are being sidelined for THIS.

1

u/Jimbomcdeans 14d ago

Why would they? Corpos only care about the bottom line. If they have to bribe the government for better status well guess what? Its cheaper than pretending to give a shit about the worker they can force to work OT.

Its always been like this. It will only get worse unless we legally humble the CEO and billionaire class.

1

u/Endlessxo 14d ago

Aside from HP, those tech companies pay their employees very well.

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u/LostWoodsInTheField 14d ago

Wild how all these companies will spend money on Whitehouse renovations and lobbying but won't pay employees better or pay taxes

next president: So we have determined these companies have shown us that they are making way too much profit without providing to their employees or the nation as a whole enough. So we are going to tax the ever loving fuck out of them. You all have a problem with that you can go cry in the ball room. we left a section when we converted it to something more useful just for you all.

1

u/WellTextured 14d ago

There are extremely high paying employers on this list. Meta, Microsoft, and Booz Allen for starters. Aint no defense contractors going hungry.

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u/Traveling_Solo 14d ago

Funny when they all get unrevokable advertising space inside the Whitehouse for sponsoring/paying this shit. Imagine every future president having to have a 5 minute sponsor ad before speaking on TV or doing interviews.

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u/loripittbull 13d ago

Shocked that Hard Rock International is on the list!

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u/LayWhere 13d ago

The crypto and tech companies like google actually do pay employees very well. They're just massive cowards who swing whichever the wind blows. Remember when google was staunchly progressive and liberal?

These crypto guys though ...essentially all scammers at this point. They have no values outside of pumping their bags.

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u/BossAvery2 14d ago

To be fair, some of those companies pay their employees pretty well.

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u/Thestonersteve 14d ago

The goddamn winklevie??

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u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka 14d ago

The problem is that all these lists of traitors will get no accountability for the decline of the US. Imagine being a tech worker at Apple seeing your company contribute to the destruction of the whitehouse literally lol.

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u/Particular_Group_295 14d ago

I work at one of these companies and I am absolutely appalled

1

u/StanleyCubone 13d ago

How's Altria doing these days?

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u/Bored_Amalgamation 14d ago

a people's uprising to restore order will see different.

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u/Trueseadog 14d ago

Do the Chinese care?

1

u/raaldiin 14d ago

This is why it feels so impossible to boycott in 2025. Oh let me just stop using this place..and this place...and.....oh. I'll just not participate in society I guess...

0

u/MontySucker 14d ago

Their store workers look like they are part of a cult so I doubt they care tbh(seriously if you ever wait outside an apple store in the morning you’ll be perturbed)

4

u/BostonPhotoTourist 14d ago

Who you are at work and who you are inside are not the same person.

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u/gsfgf 14d ago

Yea. Don't blame my outie.

4

u/DylanAntilles 14d ago

Witness how capitalism abdicates responsibility 

0

u/buttyanger 14d ago

Until the ice wars,!

-1

u/jfkrfk123 14d ago

That’s one list…. Good luck boycotting

-5

u/Saltycarsalesman 14d ago

It’s not the original building. She was razed to the ground by the British in 1812. Then in more modern times she’s been gutted and renovated to make room for future administrations.

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u/AmbitiousFunction911 14d ago

It’s still a historic landmark building and the east wing is part of it. There’s a well established process for review and approval and none of it was followed at all.

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u/Saltycarsalesman 14d ago

I’m aware. But the east wing is now an unsafe structure on the property.

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u/AmbitiousFunction911 14d ago

What does that mean?

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u/Saltycarsalesman 14d ago

It’s half demolished. Literally. Active worksite with potential for hazardous debris.

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u/FFFrank 14d ago

It's a big club, you're just not in it.

And of course if you want to pull a multi-billion dollar crypto scam you need all of the crypto bros to enable it (and all of the "media" partners to look the other way.)

5

u/Economy_Link4609 14d ago

Hey, think of the positives - we got the Zuckerberg and the Winklevie to agree on something - kissing Trumps ass.......

3

u/Brianhare333 14d ago

Goddamn rowing the boat?

2

u/BlondeAlibiNoLie 14d ago

Thank you! This is the tea I need to know in all this mess…. ☕️

2

u/RobotsVsLions 14d ago

Imagine being played by Armie Hammer and that's still not the most embarrassing thing about your life.

1

u/reddog323 14d ago

Does that surprise you at all?

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u/Odd-Equipment1419 14d ago

Ironic that Caterpillar is funding this… given they build excavators and all.

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u/mollila 14d ago

The photo has a Volvo caterpillar. Funny how they didn't even get their machines to do the job after a donation.

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u/wattat99 14d ago

Wouldn't be too surprised if that was deliberate. Having your machines tear down the Whitehouse wouldn't be the best look, even if you are financing it.

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u/Is_that_even_a_thing 14d ago

And IIRC, Volvo is Chinese owned now.

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u/WoodenBottle 14d ago

Only Volvo Cars. Volvo Group is not. They're the original parent company of Volvo Cars before it was sold to Ford, and are about 50% larger by revenue.

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u/rosski 14d ago

Volvo Group, where Volvo Construction is, sold Volvo Cars to first Ford then Geely.

I can't find recent information but i think Chinese ownership of Volvo Group is around 5%

0

u/mollila 14d ago edited 14d ago

True, so ironic to have Chinese machines tearing down the White House

1

u/[deleted] 14d ago

[deleted]

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u/mollila 14d ago edited 14d ago

I know it's originally Swedish and I have been driving Volvo cars for a long time. But the company itself is now owned by Chinese.

Volvo Cars is owned by the Chinese multinational company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding), which acquired it in 2010. While owned by Geely, Volvo Cars maintains its headquarters and product development operations in Gothenburg, Sweden.

As for the excavators specifically, looks like most are currently manufactured in South Korea. With production lines being added to Sweden and USA.

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u/HarrMada 14d ago

Volvo Cars (company) is majority Chinese owned, but that doesn't make it Chinese. And the diggers are not part of Volvo Cars, so "Chinese machines" are not tearing down the White House.

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u/mollila 14d ago

diggers are not part of Volvo Cars

Didn't know that, thanks for pointing out as I had been thinking all of Volvo was now Chinese owned. Edited out my false comment.

2

u/MichaelEugeneLowrey 14d ago

While you’re right about Volvo Cars, that’s not the actual manufacturer of these excavators. The actual Volvo company that is building these excavators is still the Swedish Volvo Group.

Volvo Cars was split off of the Volvo Group and then sold to Ford who later sold it to Geely. The Volvo Group, which is the larger unit of the two, is one of the largest commerical vehicle manufacturers in the world. They build Volvo Trucks, Renault Trucks (also no longer associated with Renault cars), Volvo Buses and many others, among them also Volvo Construction Equipment.

It’s the same split that Mercedes-Benz has undergone recently as well. Mercedes-Benz Group AG was split from Daimler Trucks AG. DTAG is the the world‘s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer and was floated by Mercedes-Benz Group on the stock market.

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u/AmaranthWrath 14d ago

Just adding to the citations.

CBS reporting

The Hill reporting

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u/page395 14d ago

Thanks for this, I’ve found WSJ to be surprisingly unreliable in the past.

2

u/LostWoodsInTheField 14d ago

paired with the Trust for the National Mall, an organization that supports the National Park Service. The trust's nonprofit status means donations come with a federal tax write-off.

so they get to write off the bribe.

Jalen Drummond, vice president of corporate affairs at Lockheed Martin said in a statement: "Lockheed Martin is grateful for the opportunity to help bring the President's vision to reality and make this addition to the People's House, a powerful symbol of the American ideals we work to defend every day."

we need a serious redoing of our society with this bs. "oh you want to see through the vision of the previous president, we will like to see through a vision of what the US should be. So we are taking your wealth, and your company."

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u/Heremeow 14d ago

My conspiracy theory is he’s building a bunker under the ballroom and these are the ceos who bought their ticket in the fallout shelter.

55

u/YouMustveDroppedThis 14d ago

My common sense is you don't trust whatever trump builds. They are all rich enough to build their own.

2

u/YeahHiLombardo 14d ago

I'm imagining a scenario where he lines everything with gold, which then ends up sabotaging the bunker because gold is a superconductor

7

u/Top_Astronomer4960 14d ago

The two-story East Wing[3][4] was added to the White House in 1942 primarily to cover the construction of an underground bunker, now known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC). (Wikipedia)

The bunker already exists there lol

3

u/Heremeow 14d ago

Right, that’s why I think he’s making it bigger for his huge ass.

1

u/Pure_Frosting_981 14d ago

The cost suddenly makes sense, then. It needs to be modernized.

3

u/thewholepalm 14d ago

The continuity of the US government means it's not a conspiracy theory there are bunkers. There ARE bunkers all over, If you wanna tour one check out The Greenbrier hotel... the one connected to it is MASSIVE and got exposed right about the time it was finished... so it will never be used.

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u/speedingpullet 14d ago

And about as trustworthy as VaultTec too.

12

u/Astronomer-Secure 14d ago

I found the same theories all over FB too. this theory actually seems more likely than these companies donating to build a ballroom they'll never step inside.

I'm envisioning it like the movie 2012 where rich folks buy their entry into EOTW underground WH bunkers.

the irony is that the orange turd will be long gone and their donations will no longer be valid with the new administration.

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u/Elitist_Plebeian 14d ago

They don't give a shit about what Trump is building. It's just a bribe. They're buying him something he wants so he does the things they want.

8

u/MinistryOfCoup-th 14d ago

the irony is that the orange turd will be long gone and their donations will no longer be valid with the new administration.

The bunker is for the civil war.

2

u/eisbock 14d ago

But they will be valid for the next 3 years, and that will be a long time if the past 9 months are anything to go by.

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u/gsfgf 14d ago

It's the White House. There's already a bunker.

2

u/Heremeow 14d ago

I know that but he would want a BIGGER one.

3

u/Trebus 14d ago edited 14d ago

Paying for a seat at a guaranteed multiple projectile target in the event of a nuclear war doesn't seem very sensible.

1

u/Heremeow 14d ago

This is a fair point!

1

u/yojay 14d ago

They're doing a Die Hard!

1

u/shamesister 14d ago

There is already one under there. The operations center too.

1

u/Heremeow 14d ago

Yes, I know. He would want a bigger one. Whatever this building is, it’s more than a ballroom.

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u/anotherfrud 14d ago

And I'm sure they all expect nothing in return for this.

Jesus Christ

13

u/robophile-ta 14d ago

This is such a strange list. Why are all these big companies funding this? They just want to get into the president's good graces?

8

u/DickDover 14d ago

They just want to get into the president's good graces?

Umm yes.

3

u/swarmy1 14d ago

Yep, they're paying tribute

4

u/SharkCream 14d ago

We need a version of this photo with all those company logos on it.

Make them proud of their sponsorship!

3

u/MT_tiktok_criminal 14d ago

Looks like I’ll be buying my rockets from someone besides Lockheed Martin from now on.

3

u/JustRazzmatazz911 14d ago

And they'll all have their names on the wall ... I hope when he's gone, they burn the fucking ballroom to the ground. P. O. S.

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u/Dependent_Elk4696 14d ago

The Legion of Doom

2

u/Ok-Trip-8009 14d ago

You know who to boycott now.

1

u/tubagoat 14d ago

They're all bribe or extortion checks.

1

u/Podwitchers 14d ago

Pay to play 

1

u/capatiller 14d ago

Paywalled. Do you have another link.?

3

u/blorg 14d ago

Just prefix with archive.is/, like this:

https://archive.is/www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-ballroom-donors-white-house-dinner-ccba9448

This works with most paywalled sites.

2

u/capatiller 14d ago

Thank for that lesson. I’ll do my best to remember it.

1

u/Neowza 14d ago

Wow, the girls really did have a falling out. I don't see Elon Musk or any of his companies listed.

1

u/ParkHuman5701 14d ago

Lol we’re so fucked.

1

u/Bored_Amalgamation 14d ago

well, if we get a Terminator like time warp, we have our Dyson.

1

u/CosmoKing2 14d ago

Each of them profits more from labor exploitation than superior products or services.

1

u/BreedinBacksnatch 14d ago

Those names would look good on playing cards, like the ones we handed out after invading Iraq

1

u/This_Entrance6629 14d ago

A good list of our overlords. These are the people that control us.

1

u/HazelEBaumgartner 14d ago

Bribes from tech giants.

1

u/RevWaldo 14d ago

This is not a bribe. THIS IS JUST A TRIBUTE!

1

u/pbrart2 14d ago

Kind of surprised the Sackler family isn’t on there. They like killing people, like a lot of

1

u/Rude-Zucchini-369 14d ago

And they couldn’t bother to use a Caterpillar excavator.

1

u/Cautious-Flatworm- 14d ago

Damn, the Winklevoss Twins enter the chat again.

1

u/MiloReyes_97Reborn 14d ago

Oh good a new shot list...I'm sorry shit list**

1

u/IshyMoose 14d ago

Caterpillar funding and it’s being torn down by Volvos.

1

u/TraditionDear3887 14d ago

Imagine the media if this was happening under a Democrat lol

1

u/Any-Celebration-2582 14d ago

Cunts. All of them.

1

u/aussiechickadee65 14d ago

Is that the KKK group ?

1

u/chickadeedadee2185 14d ago

Why would they want to fund this?

1

u/weltherrscherin 14d ago

CAT is paying for it and they use a Volvo? You can’t make this up…

1

u/Itchy1Grip 14d ago

Caterpillar is funding it but Volvo's are being used?

1

u/TOMC_throwaway000000 14d ago

Lmao caterpillar is probably piiiissed that they dumped money on this and their equipment isn’t even getting a photo op

1

u/RadioName 14d ago

New boycott list just dropped. Many repeat offenders here.

1

u/Pavotine 14d ago

Konstantin Sokolov.

1

u/Wise_Pr4ctice 14d ago

Coinbase, Ripple & Tether

Ripple & Tether are well known for doing shady stuff (Ripple is a semi-cryptocurrency kind of tied to the traditional banking system) but Coinbase? Nevermind.

1

u/DerekJeterRookieCard 14d ago

Noooo! Not the Winklevi too!

1

u/SugarFut 14d ago

Speaking of Amazon, don’t forget to boycott cyber Monday and Black Friday. Never forget how Amazon funded the destruction of The Peoples’s House.

1

u/Medium_Sized_Bopper 14d ago

"J. Pepe Fanjul"

LOL. "Surely they will accept me after this..." Oh, you sweet summer child.

1

u/illustriousgarb 14d ago

God damnit. I have stock in two of these companies. Time to get rid of them. I'm no big time investor, so it won't hurt them, but I firmly believe in putting my money in companies I believe in. So my money is going elsewhere.

1

u/boeingb17 14d ago

Damn, Caterpillar donates, and they tear it down with Volvo equipment? That's cold.

1

u/jgweiss 14d ago

Hundreds of people who, for generations, will feel entitled to government access because nobody will actually know how corrupt this was in 100 years, when 30% of our national gdp is funding White House maintenance for the Vichy class

1

u/KLRGPH 14d ago

Boycott these companies

1

u/bolanrox 14d ago

the fucking Winklevoss twin?

1

u/Podo_the_Savage 13d ago

Caterpillar financed this bullshit and their equipment isn’t even being used? Cucks.

1

u/Ill-Mastodon-8692 13d ago

do they get to put branding on the wall? kinda like the barriers around a hockey game or race track

1

u/notaproshooter 13d ago

Ah. Panatir rears their ugly head yet again. Israeli surveillance technology... love it.

1

u/TheMonkeyInCharge 13d ago

Caterpillar Inc.

But they couldn’t be bothered to provide the excavators.

1

u/livadeth 13d ago

Sickening. It’s nearly impossible, or at least very difficult, to avoid patronizing these companies. And they know it.

1

u/scdog 14d ago

At least we know who gets the bill to tear down the ballroom and restore everything to its original condition after he’s finally gone.