President Trump said that an anonymous private donor has given $130 million to the U.S. government to help pay troops during the government shutdown.
It is not clear how far the donation would go toward covering the salaries of the more than 1.3 million troops who make up the active-duty military. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Trump administration’s 2025 budget requests about $600 billion in total military compensation.
A $130 million donation would equal about $100 a service member.
Mr. Trump, speaking at a White House event on Thursday night, declined to name the donor but described him as a “patriot” and a personal friend.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement that the department had accepted the donation on Thursday 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,” Mr. Parnell said.
The move to pay the troops with private donations is highly unusual and a potential violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from spending money in excess of congressional appropriations or from accepting voluntary services.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget did not respond to requests for comment.
This month, Mr. Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to use unspent research and development funds to cover troop salaries. But congressional officials, including Speaker Mike Johnson, have warned that moving the money was only a temporary fix and that troops would soon miss their paychecks unless Congress acted to pass a stopgap spending bill.
Tony Romm contributed reporting.
Greg Jaffe covers the Pentagon and the U.S. military for The Times.
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