Timothy Mellon has been identified as the reclusive billionaire who gave the Donald Trump administration $130 million for US troop payment, as per The New York Times. Mellon, a longtime Trump supporter, extended the aid amid the ongoing government shutdown.
President Trump, while announcing the news of the $130 million donation, had refused to disclose Mellon’s identity. A 2024 Vanity Fair article about Mellon gave more insight into his reclusiveness. Mellon reportedly has little interest in meeting political candidates or attending events, choosing to communicate with some by fax.
Mellon’s donation to Trump’s 2024 election campaign was to the tune of $125 million, Fortune reported. In contrast, Elon Musk had donated at least $119 million. With many discussing Mellon’s donations to Trump’s campaign in the past and his current help amid the shutdown, there have been claims of the billionaire’s influence on Trump’s actions. Many online have linked Trump’s declassification of the Amelia Earhart files to Mellon’s contributions to his election campaign.
What people online said about Timothy Mellon and Trump
People online drew links between Trump’s recent declassification of the Earhart files and Mellon being one of his top contributors.
“Timothy Mellon is heir to the Mellon banking fortune and a true crank. He’s obsessed with conspiracy theories about Amelia Earhart, that’s why Trump publicized old files about her disappearance. He’s also a massive racist and calls social safety net programs the new slavery’,” a profile on X said.
Another added, “Timothy Mellon, alleged donor,” continuing, “In 2012, Mellon donated over $1 million to The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), a nonprofit organization, to assist its efforts to find Amelia Earhart’s plane.” The person also shared a snapshot of Trump’s Truth Social post where the President was speaking of his decision to declassify the files. “I have been asked by many people about the life and times of Amelia Earhart…” the President had said at the start of his message.
Notably, there has been no official confirmation from Trump or his administration whether Mellon had any any part to play in the president’s decision to declassify the files.
Timothy Mellon’s Amelia Earhart fascination
Timothy Mellon has shown interest in the Amelia Earhart case, especially her disappearance. He used to fund a non-profit– The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which had been looking for Earhart for decades. He reportedly funded an expedition with TIGHAR to Nikumaroro, in the western Pacific Ocean, to the tune of $1 million to follow the Earhart case.
He later went on to sue TIGHAR, claiming they found Earhart’s Lockheed Electra in 2010, but kept it a secret to raise $1 million from him. A U.S. District Judge had dismissed the suit in 2023, saying there was no evidence the plane was found, and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this decision in 2024.
As per a report by Atlas Obscura, the travel and exploration company, TIGHAR had produced an underwater video in 2010, from their expedition. Mellon, who was active on TIGHAR’s messaging boards at the time, had reportedly spent hours watching the video and said he’d spotted Earhart’s plane. However, no one else could reportedly see the plane and the messaging board thread was ultimately shut down by TIGHAR’s executive director Richard Gillespie, as per Atlas Obscura. Then, Mellon sued TIGHAR and Gillespie.
The facts, as known, in the Amelia Earhart case are that on July 2, 1937, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared while flying in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra in the South Pacific. They were aiming for Howland Island which was about 2000 miles away from their next stop Hawaii. Then, they’d have had to travel 4500 miles to reach Oakland, California, to complete Earhart’s round-the-world trip. However, the two never made it.
