Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire who has donated tens of millions of dollars to support past Trump campaigns, is reportedly the anonymous donor who gave the government $130 million to help pay troops during the ongoing government shutdown.
Mellon, a railroad magnate and heir to a prominent banking and political family, has not publicly claimed a role in any donation.
President Trump revealed the anonymous donation Thursday, describing it as coming from a “friend” and “patriot.”
“He doesn’t really want the recognition,” Trump said at a roundtable event.
The Independent has contacted a phone number and email associated with Mellon in public records for comment.
The White House and Pentagon declined to comment.
The Independent has contacted the Treasury Department for comment.
Mellon, who Forbes estimated last year had a net worth near $1 billion, is among the country’s most prolific donors to Republican causes.
During the 2024 campaign, he donated $100 million to groups supporting Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaigns.
Mellon’s donations during the election were among the largest single contributions ever disclosed.
Mellon, a grandson of the early 20th century Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, lives mainly in Wyoming and has largely eschewed the public spotlight, despite his prolific political spending.
Little is know about what is motivating the businessman’s donation spree. During the 1970s, he reportedly charitably supported liberal causes including feminism, environmentalism, and Native American advocacy, though his politics appear to have swung to the right in recent years. He once compared climate-change scientists to the terror group ISIS, according to The New York Times, and has donated millions to Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy’s anti-vaccine group.
He also previously attracted attention for controversial comments he allegedly made in a self-published autobiography comparing Black people on social assistance programs to slaves accepting “freebies.”
The Pentagon confirmed the anonymous donation Friday, saying it had accepted the funds under its “general gift acceptance authority.”
“The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members’ salaries and benefits,” said Sean Parnell, chief spokesman for the Pentagon. “We are grateful for this donor’s assistance after Democrats opted to withhold pay from troops.”
Observers expressed concern the donation may not be legal.
It could run afoul of the Antideficiency Act, which bars federal agencies from spending money in excess of their congressional appropriations or accepting voluntary services.
“Whether the government is or is not lawfully paying the troops salaries can’t depend on this gift,” David Super, a professor of law and economics at Georgetown University Law Center, told the Federal News Network. “It has to depend on whether there is another appropriation available for this cost, and I don’t think there is. And if there isn’t, then they can take the gift and hold it, but they can’t spend it without approval of Congress.”
“This should go without saying, but the American government should be funded by the American people, not anonymous mega-donor friends of the president,” the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote in a statement on X.
“This is not how things should work in a democracy—this raises all sorts of legal and ethical alarms,” the group added.
Mellon’s alleged donation, while unusual, would do little to alter the financial challenges facing the Pentagon. The Trump administration has requested about $600 billion in total military compensation as part of its 2025 budget.
Earlier this month, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use "all available funds" to ensure troops are compensated during the ongoing government shutdown.
Last week, the administration used $8 billion in funds originally meant for research and development to make payroll.
