Defense officials said they have accepted an anonymous gift of $130 million from a wealthy donor to help pay military salaries during the government shutdown, but they would not release any additional details about the unusual move.President Donald Trump announced the donation Thursday, saying that a “friend” offered the money out of a sense of patriotism. As the shutdown grinds on, Defense Department officials have shifted unused research funds to ensure that troops did not miss their mid-month paycheck, but the status of their next direct deposit is uncertain.On Friday, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that DOD had accepted the money “under its general gift acceptance authority.” The department declined to answer questions about whether the donor is an American citizen or a foreign national.“The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of service members’ salaries and benefits,” Parnell said. “We are grateful for this donor’s assistance after Democrats opted to withhold pay from troops.”White House officials said that covering the cost of military pay for the first half of October totaled about $6.5 billion. Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said that based on that figure, the new donation will cover about one-third of one day’s pay for the force.He said certain accounts are available for public donations to federal military programs. But they are typically restricted to specific projects, such as building athletic facilities at military academies, and approved by Congress ahead of time. White House officials did not provide details on how and where this donation would be directed into the federal treasury.“This sounds like a half baked idea that hasn’t been vetted or implemented,” Harrison said.>https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/24/dod-accepts-anonymous-130-million-donation-to-partially-cover-troop-pay-00622219
>>1451815 (cont)Per DOD rules, any donations over $10,000 benefiting troops or family members must be reviewed by ethics officers to ensure that “the donor does not have interests that may be affected substantially” by the gift.Additional rules require extra scrutiny of non-American donors.Military pay during the shutdown has been a source of friction among lawmakers for weeks. House Republican leaders have refused to return to session to consider a measure protecting troops’ salaries throughout the shutdown — despite bipartisan support for the idea — in an effort to force Senate Democrats to back a short-term extension ending the funding lapse.On Thursday, Senate Republicans attempted to advance a measure which would have paid troops and other nonfurloughed government workers during the shutdown, but a majority of Democrats blocked that measure out of concerns that it excluded furloughed workers.Congress could vote on several more military pay related bills next week.Troops’ next paycheck is scheduled to be delivered by Oct. 30.OTHER SOURCES:>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mystery-trump-ally-donates-130m-cover-troops-paychecks-amid-shutdown-chaos>https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5572398-troops-pay-shutdown-donation/>https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-military-payroll-anonymous-donation-trump-e327c306292043755d9d700731039e83
>>1451815Next MAGA talking point "Who cares if we don't know who's financially backing the military?"
>>1451815>The department declined to answer questions about whether the donor is an American citizen or a foreign national.So what do you think. Was it Russia or Saudi Arabia who just bought our military?
>Donation is tax deductible>This is literally just a rich asshole robbing Peter to pay Paul to run cover for TrumpWe don't hate the rich enough.
>>1451819How anally obliterated will Democrats be when it turns out Trump paid it himself?
>>1451833That sounds insanely illegal.
>>1451837Why would it be? Government donations are allowed to be earmarked for particular uses, the military is allowed to use donations, and nothing stops the president from making a donation.I'm not even sure this would be an obvious ethical violation as far as government operations are concerned, setting aside the horrifying idea that with Congress shut down the billionaire class could literally pick and choose what parts of government continue to function as they see fit. However I somehow doubt government ethicists ever considered this eventuality. A lot of uniquely American stupid and evil had to happen for us to get here.Incidentally, did you know most countries just automatically fucking continue their budgets in perpetuity and only modify shit as needed?
>>1451833>Trump paying for anything out of his own pocketLol
>>1451837You sound insanely insane
>>1451833If Trump paid for it himself, you really think he wouldn't be bragging about it non-stop?
>>1451863Yeah, actually, that’s a fair point.
>>1451846>>1451848The president isn't allowed to directly pay the military. The Appropriations Clause makes it extremely clear that the only body allowed to spend money on the military is Congress, to avoid the military being loyal to a man instead of the country as a whole. This donation itself is already illegal because the military can receive no funds without Congressional approval.
>>1451846>the military is allowed to use donationsRead the article. The military is only allowed to use donations for specific fundraising purposes Congress has already approved. Constitutionally, they cannot use a cent of this money until Congress approves it.
>>1451866I think you've misunderstood how this works. Government donations *to the Treasury* can be conditioned to only go to certain uses. The TREASURY is still the one technically paying the troops here.If they coordinated with the donor to earmark a donation to the Treasury to only be used for an account or accounts that Congress has set up for troop pay, all this shit is technically above board.Earmarking government donations is normal as fuck. That's why public schools tend to have bloated construction budgets. Rich assholes want monuments to their selflessness, so they make it so their donations can only go to shit you can see from a road and not something useless like school lunches or teacher pay.
>>1451873>If they coordinated with the donor to earmark a donation to the Treasury to only be used for an account or accounts that Congress has set up for troop pay, all this shit is technically above board.Nope. First of all, the treasury cannot pay troops without congressional approval, even if it's earmarked. That's the whole point of the budget; it would need approval. Secondly, per Trump, the donation was made directly to the DOD, so it wouldn't be going through the treasury in the first place. But even if it was, per the Appropriations Clause even money that the treasury has and is earmarked to only be used on troop salaries cannot be paid out to the troops until Congress approves of it. "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law" is pretty black and white; they can't take a cent from the treasury without Congress approving it. Like anon, you do realize if it worked like this there wouldn't be an issue with the military not being paid in the first place, right?
>>1451866Sounds like you need to blow it out your ass
>>1451886I'm just telling you the constitution.
Have any of these politicians or wannabe dictators actually read the fucking constitution? Each should be squeezed out, the skin dried and the blood used to make signs explaining and warning what the constitution says. You're a hero, sir. Take his balls.
>>1451819Well what we do know is that democrats are preventing the military from getting paid.
>>1451891No one cares what you think, commie. You don't believe in it respect the constitution to begin with. Trump is paying the troops and Democrats are going to keep seething and there's nothing they can do. Feel free to try and stop him though. I'm sure that will go over great with the American people. You're already the villains.
>>1451902But Trump is the one violating the constitution if he actually does it. The president cannot pay the troops; only Congress can.
>>1451815Someone's got to fund the government if Democrats won't
>>1451904>sorry soldiers, you need to starve, dem's the rules!Okay?What kind of retarded logic is this? So you decided to turn Trump into Robin Hood and he's still the bad guy?
>>1451908>I can just disregard the constitution whenever I wantMaybe reach an agreement with dems if you're so desperate. That's how you'd do it without violating the central governing document of the country.
>>1451908These kind of restrictions are there to encourage congress to settle disagreements instead of remaining in stalemate and letting the government remain shut down. It also prevents the president from cutting the legislative branch out of the equation and becoming a king.
>>1451909>reach an agreementThe dems are the ones holding the funding hostage, though. And now you're bitching that Trump shouldn't feed the soldiers because it's (allegedly) against the law.This is going to allow republicans to consolidate power regardless of what happens because dems decided to starve soldiers purely as a matter of principle.
>>1451912>The dems are the ones holding the funding hostage, though.Ok so, disregarding how this boils down to Repubs refusing to make concessions, even if we go entirely off this: that still means you need to make an agreement with them. Refusing to do so just means the shutdown continues.>And now you're bitching that Trump shouldn't feed the soldiers because it's (allegedly) against the law.Trump cannot approve pay to the military. It is legitimately unconstitutional; if he tried it would get shut down by the Supreme Court, not even the Dems. Only congress can pay the military. The only way to change this would be if congress themselves got a supermajority to make a constitutional amendment.
>>1451866Why is it bad if the military is loyal to Trump? What's good for Trump is good for the nation. One people. One nation. One leader.
>>1451914Yeah anon that would make him a King, something our entire system of government is set up to avoid.
>>1451833>How anally obliterated will Democrats be when it turns out Trump paid it himself?I heard it through the rape vine, that Trump really did pay himself, but he borrowed money from the government
>>1451913>It is legitimately unconstitutional; if he tried it would get shut down by the Supreme CourtI wish I had your confidence.>>1451914So are you guys gonna call him Big Brother or Big Daddy? You seem to like the daddy angle.
>>1451915Hows that going for you though?
>>1451815There's sus as hell and then there is fucking warning alarms. Aren't there like reporting rules and shit?
>>1451958Probably, but Trump doesn't care.
130 millions worth of project blue beam preparation.
>>1451815>https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/25/us/politics/timothy-mellon-donation-troops.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShareApparently it's an anti-vax billionaire who was a major Trump donor.
>>1451926That’s about $100 per service member btwBut dont worry it'll go into like 5 people's pockets instead
>>1452026ll go into like 5 people's pockets insteadAll five stars Trump supporting generals most likely
>>1451998Shocker.
>>1451891>t. sanest democrat after losing one electionThanks for sharing.
>>1451902Sure you do. Which is why you are here to shill my feelings away. Won't work, I hate you and that's not changing anytime soon. I hope a branch hits you in the face permanently blinding both your eyes and the court finally holds you accountable for those molestations.
>>1452026Well, Democrats should probably pass the budget so troops will get paid.
>>1452302Who cares? Just more money wasted, soldiers' bodies don't stop radiation. The soldiers are only as good as the weakest link and war hawk is the weakest of all nations. We're fucked, get used to it.
>>1452300I am a patriot, sir. You better get used to blood or pain.
>>1452301You're a parody of yourself.
