Mystery donor gives Pentagon $130 million to help pay troops
The Department of Defense (DOD) received an anonymous $130 million donation Thursday that the Pentagon will use to help pay troops as the federal government shutdown continues.
“On October 23, 2025, the War Department accepted an anonymous donation of $130 million under its general authority to accept gifts. The donation was made with the condition that it be used to offset the cost of service member salaries and benefits,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Hill in an emailed statement on Friday.
“We are grateful for the assistance this donor provided after Democrats chose to withhold troop pay,” he added.
It is unclear who donated the money to the department. President Trump said Thursday that the donation came from a “friend.”
“This is what I call a patriot,” Trump said at the White House, adding that he “really doesn’t want to admit it.”
The army usually depends on funds appropriated by Congress to finance it.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) bill, the Shutdown Fairness Act of 2025, in a 54-45 vote, which would have paid the salaries of active duty service members and other essential federal workers. Johnson blocked a Democratic bill that would have paid the salaries of all government employees during the shutdown.
The troops’ next payday is scheduled for October 30. The donation covers only a small portion of what is needed to cover the troops’ wages.
Trump on October 11 directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to pay mid-month salaries to service members using $8 billion in Pentagon funds previously allocated for research, development, test and evaluation.
But that pay cycle costs roughly $6.5 billion, leaving only $1.5 billion for the looming payday on October 31, which is expected to cost between $6 billion and $7 billion, Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told The Hill. This means the administration will need to have approximately $4.5 billion to $5.5 billion available to keep funds in troop wallets at the end of the month.
Before accepting any donation of more than $10,000, Defense Department authorities must review the donation with an ethics official to determine that the donor “is not involved in any claims, procurement actions, litigation, or other private matters related to the Department,” according to Pentagon rules.
“Admissions authorities may not accept a gift of services from a foreign government or international organization,” the ministry said. “They may not accept a gift of money, real property, or personal property from a foreign government or international organization unless the gift is not intended for a specific person.”
Asked whether Republicans have an alternative if troops are not paid by Oct. 31, Johnson said Trump “only has so much freedom” to pull funding from other areas as he did earlier this month.
“There is a lot of money in power,” he told reporters. “He’s not a king, you know. He just has a lot of power.”
