Dinner and a show

At the White House, dinner and a show for wealthy donors to the ballroom. The show, such as it was, was the streaming of a diminishing consciousness. From The New York Times  (gift link):

In a meandering speech that shifted from details of the ballroom — bulletproof windows and a capacity of 999 people, among them — to a description of his foreign policy agenda, Mr. Trump told the audience that he expected the project to be completed under budget. He also suggested that some attendees had offered to pay more than $20 million for the ballroom.

“So many of you have been really, really generous,” Mr. Trump said. “I mean, a couple of you, I was sitting here and saying, ‘Sir, would $25 million be appropriate?’ They said, ‘I’ll take it.’”

And a comment:

Richard W. Painter, who served as the chief ethics lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office under President George W. Bush, said in an interview that Mr. Trump’s dinner for the corporate executives “shows what the ballroom is really all about: pay to play.”

“Getting an invitation to the White House to a dinner because they’re contributing to the construction of this project,” Mr. Painter said. “This is payment for access, not just to the grounds of the White House but access to the president of the United States.”