Amid the shutdown in the U.S., the Pentagon received $130 million from a private individual. Donald Trump knows who it is but did not disclose the donor's name, DW reports.
The Pentagon accepted an anonymous donation of $130 million to support its operations amid the halted funding of government agencies in the U.S. due to the shutdown of the country's government. This was reported on Friday, October 24, by Politico, citing a representative of the American military department, Sean Parnell.
According to the Pentagon representative, the government agency has the authority to accept such a donation. The money will be directed towards salary payments for military personnel. However, the Pentagon declined to answer whether the donor is a U.S. citizen.
Additionally, according to Pentagon regulations, any donations over $10,000 for the benefit of military personnel or their families must be reviewed by ethics officials to ensure that "the donor has no interests that could be significantly affected" by the donation, Politico notes.
Trump: The donation to the Pentagon was made by a "friend" patriot
U.S. President Donald Trump hinted that he is familiar with the unnamed Pentagon donor but did not disclose their identity. Announcing the transfer of funds, Trump stated that the donation was made by a certain "friend" out of a sense of patriotism.
The White House chief also once again accused the Democratic Party of causing the government shutdown, which has led to difficulties for government agencies, including defense, in paying salaries to employees and their subordinate formations.
In any case, the amount provided will not be enough to cover salaries for all American military personnel, Politico notes. According to the publication, similar expenses in the first half of October amounted to about $6.5 billion. It is expected that next week the U.S. Congress will be able to vote on several bills allowing funds to be allocated for military salaries.
Under Trump, the U.S. is experiencing the second longest shutdown in history
As of October 1, the operation of several government agencies in the U.S. has officially been suspended due to a lack of agreement on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. This phenomenon in the country is referred to as a "shutdown."
The reason for this development was the disagreements between Democrats and Trump regarding the funding of the health insurance program for low-income citizens, known as Obamacare. Representatives of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Congress refused to accept the country’s budget for 2026 without the corresponding provisions. Although Republicans hold the majority in the legislative body, they cannot pass the budget without Democratic votes.
Amid the shutdown, Trump announced large-scale layoffs of government employees. According to the Department of Justice, termination notices were issued to over 4,200 government employees from seven government agencies, including, in particular, the Departments of Treasury, Health, and Education. At the same time, Trump instructed the Secretary of Defense to ensure salary payments to military personnel despite the government shutdown.
This is the first shutdown in the U.S. since late 2018 to early 2019, when Trump was in his first presidential term. At that time, the budget impasse lasted 35 days and became the longest in U.S. history. The reasons for it included Trump's demand for billions from the budget to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
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