Trump first announced the secret, legally controversial donation on Thursday amid growing clamor about the potential financial hardship being caused by the ongoing federal shutdown on the 1.3 million active duty military troops.

​​“He doesn’t want publicity,” Trump said on Friday as he headed to Malaysia. “He prefers that his name not be mentioned, which is pretty unusual in the world I come from, and in the world of politics, you want your name mentioned.”

A reclusive billionaire, anti-tax crusader and major financial backer of Donald Trump has been named as the anonymous private donor who gave $130m to the government to help pay US troops during the federal shutdown that is now in its fourth week, according to the New York Times.

Still, the donation, which equates to about $100 per service member, appears to be a potential violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from spending funds in advance or in excess of congressional appropriations – and from accepting voluntary services “except in the case of emergency involving the safety of human life or the protection of property”.

Potential penalties for violations include both administrative and criminal sanctions such as suspension or removal from duty, fines and imprisonment.

  • ChicoSuave@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    His wiki article reads like he’s trying to not sound as radically right as he behaves. That wiki page is like an intro course to the cognitive dissonance needed to support anti-humanitarian programs that actively hurt people while telling yourself you’re a good person.

    Edit: missed the reply thread, sorry

  • pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksOPM
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    1 hour ago

    His wikipedia page is something else.

    Mellon is a Republican, though in the past was a supporter of and donator to liberal causes.[11] He voted for President Lyndon B. Johnson, George McGovern, and Jimmy Carter, before becoming a Republican under Ronald Reagan’s presidency.[7][11]

    He is a supporter of President Donald Trump.[6][11] He is anti-tax and anti-union.[13][2] He has criticized teacher unions and the introduction of women studies, LGBT studies, and African American studies into higher education.[22] He was a listener of Rush Limbaugh before his death.[6]

    He faced media attention after comments describing his political views in his 2015 self-published autobiography “panam.captain” came to light.[23][22] Mellon calls social safety net programs “slavery Redux” and refers to those receiving benefits as “slaves of a new master, Uncle Sam.”[6] He also stated Black people became “even more belligerent” following the expansion of social programs in the 1960s and 70s.[23][22] Mellon defended his comments in the book and did not apologize.[11]

    This is probably more what he looks like (another article said that this is him: https://legalunitedstates.com/timothy-mellon-wyoming/).

    https://marketrealist.com/p/timothy-mellon-net-worth/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Mellon

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksOPM
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        7 hours ago

        It does look like him, but his shirt says, “Greg Abbot Sponsor.” Today I learned that POS look alike.

        Edit: Help me out here. Do you know what he looks like?

        • glimse@lemmy.world
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          4 hours ago

          It says “governor”

          Apparently Mellon has been a recluse. The most recent photo I found was from the 80s

        • ORbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          7 hours ago

          There’s literally a picture Abbott later in the article in a wheelchair wearing the same shirt. It’s Abbott.

          • pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksOPM
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            7 hours ago

            Sorry, you’re probably right. Do you have any idea of what he looks like and where to find it? People are showing alternate pictures.

            This is supposed to be from his foundation, and it kind of looks like wheelchair guy. He’s 80, he could be in a wheelchair too? Idk. This looks like a paid model, tbf.

            Turns out billionaires can hide themselves.

            • ORbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              7 hours ago

              Serious question. Are you face blind? They look nothing like one another beyond the color of their hair. Abbott is wrinkly as hell. This guy’s face not. Their hair is different. Their bone structure is different. Even their complexion is very different.

              • pelespirit@sh.itjust.worksOPM
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                6 hours ago

                First of all, that’s probably a 20 year old photo, you can get old and wrinkly in 20 years. Also, we don’t know if that’s not a model. Lastly, please help if you think you can find a better photo instead of being weird about it. Let’s Scooby Doo the shit out of this.