Timothy Mellon Donated $130 Million To Fund Troops Amid Shutdown: Report
Billionaire and Republican donor Timothy Mellon offered $130 million to help pay U.S. military members during the government shutdown.
Major Republican Backer Revealed
Trump made the anonymous donation public on Thursday, calling the donor a friend and a “patriot,” but he withheld their identity. Sources familiar with the matter have revealed that the donor is Mellon, as per a New York Times report on Saturday.
Mellon donated millions to Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign’s Make America Great Again super political action committee (PAC) last year.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump declined to confirm Mellon as the donor, instead describing the person as “a great American citizen” and a “substantial man.”
“He doesn’t want publicity,” the U.S. president said, according to the report. “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.”
Pentagon Acceptance Raises Legal Questions
According to The Times, the Pentagon used its “general gift acceptance authority” to accept the donation.
The donation might, however, be in violation of the Antideficiency Act, which forbids federal agencies from using unpaid assistance that Congress has not authorized or from spending more money than is permitted.
Mellon Foundation did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for a comment.
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Mellon Family Wealth And Political Spending
In 1981, Mellon established Guilford Transportation Industries, a railroad company that is now no longer in operation. His grandfather, Andrew Mellon, who was Treasury secretary from 1921 to 1932, is largely responsible for his wealth.
Forbes named the Mellon family one of America’s wealthiest last year, with a combined net worth of more than $14 billion. Timothy Mellon reported his own net worth at about $700 million in 2014.
The London Times estimated it at roughly $1 billion last year, while a relative told Vanity Fair it was closer to $4.2 billion.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mellon gave roughly $350,000 to political causes between 1996 and 2018.
During the 2020 election, Mellon’s political spending rose to $60 million in support of Republican candidates, including $20 million for Trump, according to Forbes.
In the 2024 cycle, Mellon donated $165 million total, according to campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets. This included $25 million to the political action committee American Values 2024 that supported Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign.
Shutdown Continues Into Third Week
Mellon’s contribution coincides with Trump’s pledge to pay law enforcement officers, immigration agents, and military personnel even though lawmakers have not approved funding for their salaries. This month, he signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to pay for troops’ salaries out of some research and development funds.
About 670,000 federal employees have been furloughed, while roughly 730,000 are working without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. As the shutdown enters its third week, thousands of government workers missed their first paycheck this week.
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Photo courtesy: J.J. Gouin via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.