In January 2026, SoftBank wired $50 million to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation — the largest known single donation to a library that doesn’t physically exist yet. Two months later, SoftBank’s energy subsidiary announced a deal to lease U.S. Department of Energy land in Portsmouth, Ohio, for what it’s billing as the world’s largest AI data center, backed by a 9.2-gigawatt gas-fired power plant. Ethics watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers say that timeline raises serious questions about unregulated corporate influence over federal land, AI policy, and energy infrastructure.
The Donation That Doesn’t Fit the Pattern
SoftBank has donated to presidential libraries before — but never while a president was still in office and still making decisions that directly affect SoftBank’s business.
The $50 million is earmarked for a section highlighting U.S.–Japan alliance history, according to Politico. But here’s what makes the timing unusual: SoftBank previously contributed to the Reagan and George W. Bush presidential libraries only after those presidents left office and their foundations were fully established, according to a June 2026 letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and Rep. Melanie Stansbury.
This donation arrived while Trump was still governing. Notable details include:
- Ethics watchdog CREW has noted that Eric Trump serves as a trustee of the receiving nonprofit.
- Florida authorities dissolved a separate Trump library entity — “The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Fund” — in September 2025 for failing to file an annual report.
- SoftBank says it directed its contribution to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation, Inc., a distinct nonprofit.
Warren has publicly questioned whether it is plausible that two months after a $50 million donation, the Trump administration announced a major federal lease deal with SoftBank by coincidence — describing it as part of a pattern of the president prioritizing “handshake deals with CEOs” over the public interest, according to The Washington Post.
A 9.2-Gigawatt Bet on Federal Land
A former Cold War uranium-enrichment complex is now being pitched as the nerve center of the AI infrastructure arms race.
The Portsmouth site was built for one era of existential competition. SB Energy’s project would repurpose it for another, pairing a hyperscale AI data center with a dedicated gas plant powerful enough to power several mid-size cities simultaneously. The arrangement is structured as a long-term lease of DOE-controlled land — meaning federal terms govern the deal.
SoftBank has pledged $100 billion in U.S. investments during Trump’s second term, and this project is a flagship piece of that commitment. Warren, Blumenthal, and Stansbury sent their formal June 2026 letter requesting details on the donation’s timing, its purpose, and any communications between SoftBank and Trump officials related to the lease, according to The Washington Post. The scale of the project reflects the broader AI infrastructure investment race reshaping federal energy and land policy.
In its written reply, SoftBank said the donation aligns with its longstanding practice of supporting U.S. presidential libraries — stopping well short of addressing the timing questions directly, according to The Washington Post.
No quid pro quo has been proven, and the investigation remains ongoing. But the outcome could determine whether donations to a sitting president’s legacy projects remain one of the least regulated influence channels in American politics — and whether future foreign corporate donors face any real scrutiny before federal land deals follow their checks.
