NYT Identifies Anonymous Trump Pal Paying Military During Government Shutdown

The New York Times on Saturday identified the anonymous friend of President Donald Trump who donated $130 million to pay U.S. troops during the government shutdown.

He is reclusive billionaire Timothy Mellon, grandson of Andrew Mellon, the former Treasury secretary during the Great Depression.

NYT Reporter Tyler Pager discussed Mellon during an appearance on CNN Newsroom on Saturday.

“He’s someone that was not a prolific Republican or even political donor for much of his life, really, only in the last few years or so has he really stepped up as someone who has poured millions, hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican campaigns,” Pager said.

Pager continued: “He gave a lot of money in the 2018 midterms to Republican groups, and then really stepped up as a prolific donor to the president in recent years. He was one of the largest donors to a pro-Trump super PAC in the 2024 race. But beyond that, we don’t know a whole lot about him, in part by design.”

CNN Anchor Jessica Dean asked, “How unique is something like this? A donation from a private citizen to pay military members?”

“Yeah, it’s without comparison and it’s something that we have not seen before,” Pager said. “And the ethics and legality of it is very much in question here. The Department of Defense put out a statement yesterday saying that they accepted the money under a specific provision. But in terms of how it’s actually being implemented remains unclear.”

Pager added that the donation, “doesn’t even cover the vast majority of or…a significant majority of what the Defense Department’s budget is, right? There are more than a million troops. So this is not going to cover their salaries. The president and his administration have moved money around, particularly when it comes to the Pentagon in other ways. But this is not a long-term solution to paying the troops. And it’s also incredibly unusual to see something like this unfold.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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