President Donald J. Trump greets guests on the South Lawn of the White House Monday, April 22, 2019, during the 141st White House Easter Egg Roll. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
In a departure from tradition, The White House “is soliciting corporate sponsors for this year’s Easter Egg Roll,” CNN reported Sunday.
According to reporter Betsy Klein, “sponsorship offers range from $75,000 to $200,000, with the promise of logo and branding opportunities.”
In a series of tweets Sunday, Klein posted a "9-page pitch document" she obtained outlining the various sponsorship tiers, which states a $200,000 “investment” will offer sponsors “branding for a key area or activation,” “choice of Meet & Greet or White House Tour" and 150 tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Klein reports the White House is working with the outside production company Harbinger to solicit sponsors. “All money raised by Harbinger will go to the White House Historical Association,” Klein reports.
As the reporter notes, “the solicitation for sponsorships marks an unprecedented offering of corporate branding opportunities on White House grounds running counter to long-established regulations prohibiting the use of public office for private gain.”
“A former official involved in planning the event” told CNN, “This is not your grandmother’s Easter Egg Roll where people lined up outside the gate and go and roll an egg and get a little gift bag and walk out.”
“This is an enterprise,” the former official said.
Former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter, who viewed the document, said it “wouldn’t have gotten through Counsel’s Office.”
“That would have been vetoed in about 30 seconds in my day,” he said. “We’re not running this like a football stadium where you get all logos all over the place for kicking money.”
Read the full report at CNN.