Trump ally who donated $130 million to pay troops amid shutdown revealed as reclusive billionaire heir: report
The anonymous donor who gave $130 million to the Pentagon to pay troops during the government shutdown has been identified as Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and a major financial...
By Fox News Politics · Fox News Politics
The anonymous donor who gave $130 million to the Pentagon to pay troops during the government shutdown has been identified as Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and a major financial backer of President Donald Trump , according to a report. Trump announced the donation on Thursday, but declined to reveal the donor's identity, only describing him as a "patriot" and a friend. The president again refused to name the person on Friday while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after departing Washington for Asia, calling the donor "a great American citizen" and a "substantial man." "He doesn’t want publicity," Trump said on Friday. "He prefer that his name not be mentioned, which is pretty unusual in the world I come from, and in the world of politics, you want your name mentioned." But the two people familiar with the matter told The New York Times that the man is Mellon, a wealthy banking heir and railroad magnate. MYSTERY TRUMP ALLY DONATES $130M TO COVER TROOPS’ PAYCHECKS AMID SHUTDOWN CHAOS It remains unclear how long the donation will cover the troops' salaries. The Trump administration’s 2025 budget asked for about $600 billion in total military compensation, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The $130 million donation would equal about $100 a service member, according to The New York Times . Mellon, a grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, is a backer of Trump who gave tens of millions of dollars to groups supporting the president’s 2024 campaign. Last year, he gave $50 million to a super PAC supporting Trump, making it one of the largest single contributions ever disclosed, the newspaper noted. The billionaire was not a prominent Republican donor until Trump was first elected but has given hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years into supporting the president and the GOP. He is also a significant supporter of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , who also ran for president in 2024, first…