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The nameless donor who gave $130 million to the Pentagon to pay troops throughout the federal government shutdown has been recognized as Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and a significant monetary backer of President Donald Trump, in line with a report.
Trump introduced the donation on Thursday, however declined to disclose the donor’s identification, solely describing him as a “patriot” and a buddy. The president once more refused to call the individual on Friday whereas speaking to reporters aboard Air Drive One shortly after departing Washington for Asia, calling the donor “an important American citizen” and a “substantial man.”
“He doesn’t need publicity,” Trump mentioned on Friday. “He desire that his title not be talked about, which is fairly uncommon on the planet I come from, and on the planet of politics, you need your title talked about.”
However the two individuals aware of the matter instructed The New York Instances that the person is Mellon, a rich banking inheritor and railroad magnate.
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The nameless donor who gave $130 million to the Pentagon to pay troops throughout the federal government shutdown has been recognized as Timothy Mellon. (Scott Olson/Getty Pictures)
It stays unclear how lengthy the donation will cowl the troops’ salaries. The Trump administration’s 2025 finances requested for about $600 billion in whole army compensation, in line with the Congressional Finances Workplace.
The $130 million donation would equal about $100 a service member, in line with The New York Instances.
Mellon, a grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, is a backer of Trump who gave tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} to teams supporting the president’s 2024 marketing campaign. Final yr, he gave $50 million to a brilliant PAC supporting Trump, making it one of many largest single contributions ever disclosed, the newspaper famous.
President Donald Trump had declined to disclose the donor’s identification. (Scott Olson/Getty Pictures)
The billionaire was not a distinguished Republican donor till Trump was first elected however has given a whole lot of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in recent times into supporting the president and the GOP.
He’s additionally a major supporter of Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who additionally ran for president in 2024, first as a Democrat and later as an impartial earlier than dropping out to endorse Trump. Mellon donated thousands and thousands to Kennedy’s presidential marketing campaign and has additionally given cash to the secretary’s anti-vaccine nonprofit, Kids’s Well being Protection, in line with The New York Instances.
Regardless of his political contributions, Mellon has sought to maintain a low profile.
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The Pentagon mentioned it accepted the donation underneath the “common present acceptance authority.” (Reuters)
In an autobiography revealed in 2015, Mellon described himself as a former liberal who moved from Connecticut to Wyoming for decrease taxes and fewer individuals.
The Pentagon mentioned it accepted the donation underneath the “common present acceptance authority.”
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“The donation was made on the situation that or not it’s used to offset the price of service members’ salaries and advantages,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell mentioned in a press release to The New York Instances.
However the donation could also be a possible violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal companies from spending cash in extra of congressional appropriations or from accepting voluntary providers.
