President Donald Trump at Arlington National Cemetery on May 26, 2025 (Department of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Spencer Perkins/Flickr)
Questions are swirling after the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed it has accepted an anonymous gift of $130 million to help pay the troops during the federal government shutdown. President Donald Trump earlier this week told reporters a “friend” of his offered to cover the soldiers’ salaries. Reportedly, the Pentagon is limited in what private gifts it can receive and how they may be used.
“By the way, a man, a friend of mine,” the President said on Thursday, “a friend of mine, a man that’s great — I’m not gonna use his name unless he lets me do it.”
“He called us the other day,” Trump continued, “and he said, ‘I’d like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the Democrats’ shutdown. I’d like to contribute, personally contribute, any shortfall you have with the military, because I love the military, I love the country, and any shortfall, if there’s a shortfall, I’ll contribute it.'”
“And today, he sent us a check for $130 million.”
On Friday, Defense Department Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed the payment, according to PBS NewsHour’s Nick Schifrin:
“On October 23, 2025, the @DeptofWar accepted an anonymous donation of $130 million under its general gift acceptance authority. The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members’ salaries and benefits. We are grateful for this donor’s assistance after Democrats opted to withhold pay from troops.”
Bloomberg News reported that the “donation is President Donald Trump’s latest maneuver to seize greater control of government functions amid the shutdown, which has stretched into its fourth week.”
Questions immediately arose.
Defense One reporter Meghann Myers noted, “donors of amounts over $10,000 need to be vetted for conflicts of interest. Hard to do if the donor is anonymous. Or is the donor known to the Pentagon and they have agreed to withhold their identity?”
Bloomberg reported, “While individuals can make unconditional gifts to the US Treasury, they’re credited to the general fund or used to pay down the national debt. The money can’t be spent without a congressional appropriation — and it’s that lack of an appropriation that has shut down the government.”
Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger added, “The US spends roughly $16 billion per month on pay for the troops. So the idea that $130 million has somehow kept the DOD pay afloat is odd.”
Bloomberg also noted that the “$130 million total would only cover a small portion of the payroll for the nation’s roughly 1.3 million active-duty military members — averaging about $100 per person.”
The U.S. military is allowed to accept private donations, but only for “military schools, hospitals, libraries, museums, cemeteries and similar institutions, and to help service members and civilian employees who are wounded or killed in the line of duty, and their families,” Bloomberg noted.
Former U.S. diplomat Brett Bruen commented, “This doesn’t just raise major ethical concerns, it raises serious security concerns. Our military should be benefiting from or beholden to no one other than the American people.”