The thriller donor who supplied $130 million to pay troops throughout the federal government shutdown is Timothy Mellon, sources informed The New York Instances on Saturday.
The extraordinarily non-public billionaire is a prime Republican backer and contributed $125 million to the Make America Nice Once more tremendous PAC that supported Donald Trump throughout his presidential bid final yr.
Trump introduced the nameless donation on Thursday, declining to call the benefactor, solely saying that the person was a “patriot” and a good friend.
When requested about Mellon on Friday, Trump declined to establish him because the donor whereas chatting with reporters. He stated the person was “a great American citizen” and a “substantial man.”
“He doesn’t want publicity,” Trump stated, in response to The Instances. “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.”
The Pentagon informed The Instances it accepted the donation underneath the “general gift acceptance authority.”
However the donation could also be in violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prevents federal companies from spending extra money than Congress permits or from utilizing unpaid assist that Congress hasn’t authorized.
The Mellon household basis didn’t reply to Fortune’s request for remark, and makes an attempt by the Instances to achieve Mellon have been unsuccessful.
Mellon’s fortune
Mellon based the now-defunct railroad firm Guilford Transportation Industries in 1981, however a lot of his wealth is from his grandfather, Andrew, who was Treasury secretary from 1921 to 1932. Throughout this time, Andrew efficiently campaigned to take away property taxes so he might depart his fortune to his heirs.
Previous to working for the Treasury, Andrew accrued his wealth in banking, industrials and investing within the early levels of firms.
The Mellon household was named one in every of America’s richest households by Forbes final yr and has a mixed internet price of simply over $14 billion.
Though Timothy Mellon’s share of this wealth isn’t properly understood, he stated his internet price was about $700 million in 2014. The London Instances estimated it to be about $1 billion final yr, and a relative informed Vainness Honest it was nearer to $4.2 billion, including that Mellon didn’t need individuals to know his true internet price.
Between 1996 and 2018, Mellon donated about $350,000 to political causes, in response to the Wall Road Journal. However throughout the 2020 election, his political spending exploded, donating $60 million to Republican candidates, together with $20 million to Trump.
Within the 2024 cycle, Mellon donated a complete of $165 million, in response to marketing campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets. This included $25 million to the political motion committee American Values 2024 that supported Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential marketing campaign.
In Mellon’s self-published autobiography panam.captain from 2015, Kennedy is quoted as saying, “Tim Mellon is a maverick entrepreneur who embodies the most admirable qualities of what FDR called ‘American Industrial genius.’”
Authorities shutdown
Mellon’s donation comes as Trump has promised to pay navy service members, immigration brokers and legislation enforcement officers regardless of not having approval by lawmakers for cash for his or her wages.
He signed an govt order this month ordering the Pentagon to make use of parts of analysis and improvement funds to cowl troops’ salaries.
About 670,000 employees have been furloughed, in response to the Bipartisan Coverage Middle, a Washington-based assume tank. And about 730,000 are working with out pay.
Because the shutdown drags on for its third week, 1000’s of federal employees have additionally skilled lacking their first paycheck this week.
