{"id":1145,"date":"2025-10-27T20:58:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T21:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/?p=1145"},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:45:17","slug":"who-is-timothy-mellon-the-billionaire-who-reportedly-donated-130m-to-help-pay-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/27\/who-is-timothy-mellon-the-billionaire-who-reportedly-donated-130m-to-help-pay-troops\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Timothy Mellon, the billionaire who reportedly donated $130M to help pay troops?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The anonymous donor who gave<\/a> the Defense Department $130 million to partially cover the salaries of military personnel amid the government shutdown was identified as billionaire Timothy Mellon, The New York Times<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Mellon, an 83-year-old resident of Saratoga, Wyo., has donated frequently to President Trump and Republican groups in recent years.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump, while not naming Mellon, called the anonymous donor a \u201cfriend\u201d who \u201cdoesn\u2019t really want the recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I call a patriot,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n

Neither the White House nor Pentagon has publicly acknowledged the Times’s report identifying Mellon as the anonymous donor. The Hill requested comment on the report from the Pentagon but was referred to the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here’s what to know about the billionaire and his reported donation: <\/p>\n

History of political donations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, Mellon donated nearly $2 million<\/a> to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports the president, in late April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also donated $1 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to getting Republicans elected to Congress, in early March. <\/p>\n

Mellon, according to the FEC, first donated to Trump\u2019s campaign in September 2016, less than two months before he defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in his first White House run. He also donated $140 million to MAGA Inc. last year and gave $2,900 to Vice President Vance\u2019s initial Senate run in 2021.<\/p>\n

In 2023 and 2024, Mellon donated more than $25 million to a super PAC aligned with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s independent presidential campaign. He also donated $2,800 to National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard\u2019s Democratic presidential campaign in 2019.<\/p>\n

Comes from famous family<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The son of Paul Mellon and Mary Conover Brown, Mellon is an heir to his family\u2019s fortune. He is the great-grandson of Thomas Mellon, the founder of Mellon Bank, and the grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon \u2014 who faced an impeachment inquiry in 1932 amid allegations of corruption.<\/p>\n

As of February 2024, the Mellon family\u2019s net worth is $14.1 billion, according to Forbes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Washington Post reported in 2020<\/a> that Mellon, in his 2015 self-published autobiography, called the social safety net \u201cSlavery Redux\u201d and said Black Americans were \u201ceven more belligerent\u201d after such programs were expanded in the 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The New York Times<\/a> later that year, Mellon deflected when asked about his financial support for Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll contribute to [Trump] or [former President] Biden or whoever I want to,\u201d he told the outlet. \u201cI don\u2019t have to say why.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donation raises legal questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The $130 million donation, according to chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, was accepted under the department\u2019s \u201cgeneral gift acceptance authority<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members\u2019 salaries and benefits,\u201d Parnell told The Hill in an emailed statement Friday.<\/p>\n

More than 1.3 million active-duty personnel are scheduled to receive paychecks on Friday. Ahead of troops\u2019 Oct. 15 payday, Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use $8 billion<\/a> in Pentagon research, development, test and evaluation funds to compensate service members.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The midmonth payments, though, cost roughly $6.5 billion. That leaves only $1.5 billion left over for Friday\u2019s paychecks, which are expected to cost between $6 billion and $7 billion, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Todd Harrison told The Hill<\/a> earlier this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The $130 million donation would net to roughly $50 per troop this pay cycle, based on the Oct. 15 totals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the donation raises legal questions. <\/p>\n

According to the Antideficiency Act<\/a>, federal agencies are barred from \u201cobligating or expending federal funds in advance or in excess of an appropriation, and from accepting voluntary services.\u201d The act requires agency heads to report violations to the president and Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The anonymous donor who gave the Defense Department $130 million to partially cover the salaries of military personnel amid the government shutdown was identified as billionaire Timothy Mellon, The New York Times reported. Mellon, an 83-year-old resident of Saratoga, Wyo., has donated frequently to President Trump and Republican groups in recent years. Speaking to reporters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1146,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions\/1146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalentholding.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}