Timothy Mellon, a reclusive heir to a Gilded Age fortune, made a $50 million donation to a super PAC supporting Donald J. Trump the day after the former president was convicted of 34 felonies, according to recent federal filings. This generous contribution is one of the largest single disclosed donations ever made.
The impact of this donation on the 2024 race is expected to be immediate. Following the contribution, the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., announced in a memo that it would reserve $100 million in advertising through Labor Day.
Prior to this donation, the super PAC had only $34.5 million in funds at the end of April, with Mr. Mellon’s contribution making up a significant portion of the nearly $70 million raised in May. The super PAC has already started reserving $30 million in ads to be aired in Georgia and Pennsylvania around the Fourth of July holiday.
Mr. Mellon is now the first donor to contribute $100 million in disclosed federal contributions for this year’s election. He had previously been the largest contributor to super PACs supporting both Mr. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with $25 million donations to each.
Democrats have raised concerns about Mr. Kennedy being portrayed as a spoiler backed by Republicans, highlighting Mr. Mellon’s dual contributions and potential conflicting loyalties. The pro-Kennedy super PAC has shared quotes from Mr. Mellon and a blurb from the cover of his upcoming book, where Mr. Kennedy refers to him as a “maverick entrepreneur.”
It remains unclear how Mr. Mellon’s significant donation will impact his support for Mr. Kennedy moving forward, as he has previously contributed to both candidates. In April, he made two $5 million donations to Mr. Kennedy’s super PAC.
This $50 million gift will greatly bolster pro-Trump efforts to close the financial gap that President Biden and his supporters have enjoyed. Miriam Adelson, widow of Sheldon G. Adelson, has also announced plans to fund a pro-Trump super PAC with a substantial amount of money, although the full amount has yet to be received.
On the other hand, groups supporting Mr. Biden have already announced over $1 billion in planned spending, anchored by a reserved $250 million in advertising from the leading pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward.
Individual donations of $50 million are rare in American campaigns, often coming from self-funded candidates, couples splitting their contributions, or donors making payments over time.
Until now, Make America Great Again Inc., the primary pro-Trump super PAC, had limited success in fundraising, relying mainly on Republican donors with personal ties to the former president.
In the first few months of 2024, the group raised between $7.4 million and $14.4 million per month. Initially funded with $60 million from Mr. Trump’s political action committee, which is not allowed to support his candidacy, MAGA Inc. later refunded that amount to the PAC, Save America, which is assisting with Mr. Trump’s legal expenses.
Mr. Mellon, who had previously contributed $25 million to the group, now accounts for nearly half of its total fundraising.
Despite his significant contributions, Mr. Mellon has maintained a low profile as a donor. Initially unknown to many Republican fundraisers, he made a splash with a $10 million donation to a G.O.P. super PAC in 2018, followed by several more eight-figure donations to major Republican organizations.
He later hired political advisors in Washington, although he primarily resides in Wyoming and remains elusive to most of his beneficiaries.
Mr. Mellon’s $50 million donation to support Mr. Trump is comparable to another significant contribution he made towards a tough-on-immigration project: the private construction of a border wall in Texas. In 2021, he donated $53 million worth of stock to help fund the wall, a project championed by Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas.
Mr. Mellon, who did not respond to requests for comment, seems to be embracing the attention on his political influence. He is set to release a book titled “panam.captain” next month, detailing his efforts in revitalizing Pan Am Systems, a conglomerate of companies in rail, aviation, and marketing.
His previous autobiography was removed from publication in 2016 due to controversial passages, including racially charged remarks about Black people in the 1960s and ’70s. Despite this, Mr. Mellon is moving forward with his new book and appears to be more open to public scrutiny.
The upcoming book, “panam.captain,” will be published by Skyhorse Publishing, led by Tony Lyons, co-founder of the pro-Kennedy super PAC, American Values 2024.
In a rare interview with Bloomberg in 2020, Mr. Mellon commended Mr. Trump for his commitment to fulfilling his promises: “He’s done the things he promised to, or tried to do the things he’s promised to,” he stated.
