During the "shutdown" period, the U.S. government received an anonymous donation of $130 million to pay the U.S. military's salary, and the U.S. media disclosed the identity of the donor.
According to reports from the Associated Press, The New York Times and other US media on the 25th local time, two people familiar with the matter revealed that billionaire Timothy Mellon was confirmed to be an anonymous donor to the Pentagon. Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that it had received an anonymous donation of $130 million to pay for the U.S. military during the government shutdown.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that one of his "friends" has sent a $1.3 billion check to the government to pay the U.S. military salary. Trump said he would not disclose the person's identity unless he was permitted and said the person did not want any recognition.
The New York Times recently that Trump once again refused to reveal Melon’s identity on his flight to the Air Force One on Monday, calling him “a great American citizen” and “a person with scores”. “He doesn’t want to be famous,” Trump said on his way to Malaysia, “he wants his name not to be mentioned, which is rare in the world I live in.”
The White House declined to comment on the New York Times explosions, which had attempted to contact Melon and his representatives several times, but were unsuccessful.
Reported that it is unclear how the donation will cover the salary expenses of more than 1.3 million active-duty soldiers. On a pro-rata basis, the $130 million donation is equivalent to about $100 in salary per military member.
As a banking heir and railway giant, Melon has long supported Trump, having “donated tens of millions of dollars to groups supporting Trump’s campaign” and last year he donated $50 million to Trump’s “superpolitical action committee,” one of the largest single political contributions revealed to date.