#1
Primary record
Federal Election Commission — Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, Inc. (Committee ID C00894162).
Total donations accepted: $247,702,249.10; total refunded: $6,230,697.38 (through July 19, 2026).
Certificate 009
Chapter Nine: The Spectacle of Power — Balls, Budgets, and Who Foots the Bill
These are the sources the Kool-Aid Laboratory used to examine this chapter. Every one is public. Check them yourself.
Want the plain-English verdict and the full laboratory report for this chapter? Those are in Who's Drinking the Kool-Aid? — The Official Research Companion. Get the Companion →
#2
Primary record
Federal Election Commission — 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee (Committee ID C00629584)
— Trump's 2017 committee and the prior record. Total accepted: $106,804,509.37.
#3
Reporting
Barack Obama's 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee — donor policy and total (~$53 million).
The committee capped individual gifts at $50,000 and refused corporations, PACs, registered federal lobbyists, unions, registered foreign agents, and foreign nationals. NBC News: Overview:
#4
Reporting
Barack Obama's 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee — the reversal.
It accepted corporate and union donations and raised the cap to $250,000 (still barring registered lobbyists and PACs); corporate donors included AT&T ($4.6M), Microsoft ($2.1M), Boeing ($1M), and Chevron ($1M). The Washington Times: Center for Public Integrity:
#5
Reporting
Kamala Harris 2024 — campaign, DNC, and affiliated joint fundraising committees (more than $1 billion).
Campaign money, not inaugural money; raised across the abbreviated 2024 general-election campaign. NBC News: CNN:
#6
Reporting
Trump 2025 inaugural committee — donor-benefit package.
Donors giving at least $1 million were promised up to a half-dozen tickets to eight inaugural events (Jan. 17–20), including "an elegant and intimate dinner with President Donald J. Trump and Mrs. Melania Trump" on Jan. 19. CNBC: Brennan Center:
#7
Reporting
Trump 2025 inaugural donor composition
(technology, cryptocurrency, finance, energy, automotive, pharmaceutical, retail, telecommunications, and wealthy individuals), per the committee's FEC disclosure and reporting. Donor list (Washington Post):
#8
Primary record
Inaugural-donation rules
— no contribution-amount limit for eligible donors; corporations and labor organizations may give; foreign-national donations prohibited; disclosure of aggregate donations of $200+ required. 36 U.S.C. §510; 11 C.F.R. §104.21; 11 C.F.R. §110.20(j). FEC "Inaugural Committee Reports":
#9
Primary record
Example of a donor with a documented federal matter — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, "SEC Announces Dismissal of Civil Enforcement Action Against Coinbase," Press Release No. 2025-47 (February 27, 2025)
— a later favorable agency action for a company with a pending enforcement matter, dismissed with a stated regulatory-policy rationale rather than a merits assessment.