An anonymous American donor gives $130 million to the Pentagon to cover troop pay during the government shutdown, prompting ethical and legal questions.
A mystery benefactor has donated $130 million to the U.S. Department of Defense to help pay military salaries during the ongoing government shutdown, officials confirmed Friday October 24, 2025 — an extraordinary gesture that has raised both praise and alarm.
The Pentagon said the contribution, made under the department’s “general gift acceptance authority,” will be used to offset the cost of salaries and benefits for the nation’s 1.32 million active-duty troops, whose pay has been jeopardized by the budget impasse.
President Donald Trump described the donor as “a great gentleman” and “a patriot” who is “a big supporter of mine,” but declined to reveal his identity. “He doesn’t want the recognition,” Trump told reporters before departing for Asia on Saturday October 26, 2025. “He put up $130 million to make sure the military got paid. He’s a wonderful man who doesn’t want publicity.”
The government shutdown — now in its 27th day — began after Congress failed to approve a new funding bill. The Trump administration managed to pay troops last week by diverting $8 billion from military research, but the next payday on October 31, 2025, remains uncertain.
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Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the donation complied with federal rules and had been vetted by ethics officials. Under defense department policy, any gift exceeding $10,000 must be reviewed to ensure the donor has no pending contracts, litigation, or other business with the government.
However, the unusually large and anonymous nature of the donation has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers and ethics experts.
“Using anonymous donations to fund our military raises troubling questions about transparency and national security,” said Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate’s defense appropriations subcommittee. “Our troops should never be in a position where their pay depends on private benefactors.”
Critics also warn that accepting anonymous gifts could open the door to potential influence or foreign interference, though Trump insisted the donor is a U.S. citizen. However, the mystery donor have been identified as Timothy Mellon, a billionaire and heir to the Mellon Banking fortune. He is also a longtime supporter of Donald Trump.
While the Defense Department occasionally receives private donations — typically for specific projects such as schools, hospitals, or memorials — experts say using private money to fund salaries is virtually unprecedented.
The donation, which amounts to roughly $100 per service member, offers only temporary relief. With Congress still at an impasse and hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed or working without pay, uncertainty continues over how long the U.S. military — and the broader government — can sustain operations under private generosity.
