Timothy Mellon, a reclusive heir to a Gilded Age fortune, recently donated $50 million to a super PAC supporting Donald J. Trump the day after the former president was convicted of 34 felonies. This donation is among the largest single disclosed contributions ever made in American politics. The impact of this donation on the 2024 race is expected to be significant, with the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., immediately reserving $100 million in advertising through Labor Day. This donation helped the super PAC raise nearly $70 million in May, as it had only $34.5 million on hand at the end of April.
Timothy Mellon is the first donor to give $100 million in disclosed federal contributions in this year’s election. He has also been a large supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., contributing $25 million to super PACs supporting both Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy. Democrats have raised concerns about Mr. Mellon’s dual contributions, suggesting that he is acting as a spoiler supported by Republicans. Mr. Kennedy has referred to Mr. Mellon as a “maverick entrepreneur” in a blurb for the billionaire’s upcoming book. Mr. Mellon’s recent $50 million donation will significantly help pro-Trump forces narrow the financial advantage that President Biden and his allies have enjoyed so far.
Miriam Adelson, the widow of Sheldon G. Adelson, has also made plans to fund a pro-Trump super PAC with at least as much money as the $90 million her family gave in the 2020 campaign. However, outside groups supporting President Biden have already announced more than $1 billion in planned spending, including a reserved $250 million in advertising from the leading pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward. Individual donations as large as $50 million are rare in American campaigns, but Mr. Mellon’s recent contribution has had a significant impact on the pro-Trump super PAC.
Make America Great Again Inc. has had modest fund-raising success in the past and has relied largely on Republican donors with personal connections to former President Trump. The group originally received $60 million from Mr. Trump’s political action committee but later returned the funds after he declared his run for president. Mr. Mellon accounted for nearly half of the total amount raised by the super PAC, having previously contributed $25 million over the last 12 months. Mr. Mellon is a unique figure in Republican fund-raising, with few recipients of his money have met him in person.
Mr. Mellon has a reputation as a reclusive figure, despite his famous last name as the grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon. He made his first significant donation of $10 million to a G.O.P. super PAC in 2018 and has since made nine eight-figure contributions to major Republican groups. He lives primarily in Wyoming and has hired political counsel to guide him in Washington. Along with his recent donation to support Mr. Trump, Mr. Mellon also made a $53 million donation for the private construction of a border wall in Texas in 2021. He is set to publish a book next month about his work turning around Pan Am Systems, a collection of companies that includes rail, aviation, and marketing firms.
In a Bloomberg interview in 2020, Mr. Mellon praised what he saw as Mr. Trump’s follow-through on his promises. He also previously self-published an autobiography that stirred controversy with incendiary passages about social programs and safety net programs. Mr. Mellon’s new book, “panam.captain,” is set to be released by Skyhorse Publishing, with its president Tony Lyons, who co-founded a pro-Kennedy super PAC. Despite the controversy surrounding Mr. Mellon’s previous writing, his influence in American politics, particularly in support of Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy, is expected to continue.
