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The White House wants to recruit corporate sponsors to contribute to its Easter Egg Roll next month, raising ethical and legal concerns that President Trump is allowing companies to profit from the 147-year-old tradition by turning it into a showcase for their brands.
The financial backers of the April 21 event would be able to choose from three options that cost between $75,000 and $200,000, according to a nine-page guide for potential sponsors that was reviewed by The New York Times.
The most expensive package includes a corporate booth, logo placements, branded snacks or beverages, exclusive tickets to brunch with the first lady, Melania Trump, a chance to engage with the White House Press Corps, a private White House tour and 150 tickets to the event.
“Be a part of history,” reads the guide, which was written by Harbinger, an event production company founded by Republican aides in 2013. It invites sponsors to “provide financial support, activities and giveaways to enhance the event while gaining valuable brand visibility and national recognition.”
As in the past, any money raised through the event will go to the White House Historical Association, a private nonprofit educational organization founded by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961. The event is largely held without taxpayer dollars, with the American Egg Board, a marketing group for the egg industry, sponsoring thousands of eggs for the event — but without the kind of visibility laid out by Harbinger’s guide.
Federal regulations prohibit government employees from using their public office for private gain. Richard W. Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office under President George W. Bush, said that the White House was clearly breaking that code by allowing private enterprises to use an official event to showcase their brands and letting the proceeds flow into a private nonprofit.
“I’m shocked that they are doing this to raise money,” Mr. Painter said, adding that his team under Mr. Bush did not even allow public schools to be named after Mr. Bush. “You can’t use the power of the United States government to favor one nonprofit over another.”
Mr. Painter said that some in Mr. Trump’s White House have argued that the ethics laws technically do not apply to the president, but most presidents have complied with some sort of ethical guidelines since President Richard M. Nixon resigned in 1974.
The White House did not comment on the sponsorship plan, which was reported earlier by CNN. Harbinger and the White House Historical Association did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Trump and the first lady have been widely criticized in recent months for blurring the ethical line between their official duties and powers and leveraging it for private gain.
Earlier this month, the president hosted an exclusive car show for Tesla at the White House with Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive who also leads the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal work force and spending.
And just days before Inauguration Day, Mr. Trump announced his own cryptocurrency, which he has promoted on social media — including on Sunday, writing on his Truth Social site that it was “SO COOL.” Mrs. Trump also announced her own memecoin the day before her husband took office..
The White House Easter Egg Roll first took place in 1878 under President Rutherford B. Hayes, two years after Congress passed a law prohibiting children from rolling eggs — and themselves — down Capitol Hill. Tens of thousands of attendees congregate each year on the South Lawn as children try to roll hard-boiled eggs to the finish line without cracking them.
Shawn McCreesh contributed reporting.
