WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: U.S. President Donald Trump shushes journalists before signing the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act in the Rose Garden at the White House June 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. In the midst of nationwide protests against the death of George Floyd, the U.S. Labor Department announced the unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, a surprising improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Image: Getty)
New Federal Election Commission filings reveal that last month, Timothy Mellon, the reclusive billionaire heir of the famed Mellon banking family, donated $50 million to the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again, making it one of the single largest disclosed contributions ever.
Mellon, who has also been a major donor to a super PAC supporting independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., gave $50 million to MAGA Inc. just a day after former President Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in his Manhattan hush money trial.
The impact of the massive donation on the 2024 race is expected to be immediate. Within days of the contribution, the super PAC announced plans to spend $100 million on a nationwide advertising campaign through Labor Day.
On Wednesday and Thursday, MAGA Inc. began reserving around $30 million in ads in Georgia and Pennsylvania, key swing states, planning to run them around the Fourth of July holiday.
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Until now, MAGA Inc., the leading pro-Trump super PAC, has only seen moderate fundraising success, relying primarily on Republican donors with personal connections to the former president.
At the end of April, the pro-Trump super PAC had only $34.5 million on hand. Mellon’s $50 million contribution accounted for more than two-thirds of the nearly $70 million that the group raised in May.
Despite being the grandson of former treasury Andrew Mellon and a member of the wealthy Mellon family, Mellon had remained largely unheard of in Republican fundraising circles until he made a $10 million donation to a GOP super PAC in mid-2018.
That donation was the first of nine eight-figure contributions he would make to major Republican groups.
Despite becoming a key Republican donor, Mellon, who lives in Wyoming, has consistently avoided the publicity typically surrounding such significant contributions, earning a reputation as an unusual, quirky figure.
Many of the recipients of his donations have never met him.
Mellon has already donated $100 million in this election cycle alone, including $25 million to super PACs supporting both Trump and Kennedy. This makes him the first donor to give such a large amount in disclosed federal contributions for this year’s election.
So far, Mellon has alternated between supporting Trump and Kennedy. His latest donation to Kennedy’s super PAC was $5 million in April. It remains unclear whether his recent donation to Trump suggests an end to his support for Kennedy.
The lead-up to this year’s presidential election is anticipated to see numerous large donations. Outside groups have committed to spending over $1 billion in support of President Joe Biden, with mega-donors rallying behind his reelection campaign.
Biden has already secured $250 million in advertising reservations through the leading pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward.
Similarly, Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, an Illinois couple who are among the GOP’s top donors, along with billionaire energy executive Kelcy Warren, each contributed $5 million to the Trump super PAC in May.
Additionally, prominent Republican donor Miriam Adelson, casino billionaire and widow of Sheldon G. Adelson, has announced intentions to donate at least as much as the $90 million her family gave to MAGA Inc. in the 2020 campaign.
These substantial donors will assist pro-Trump efforts in closing the financial disparity that the Biden campaign has been enjoying, coming just before Thursday’s first campaign debate, where Biden and Trump will face off in Atlanta.
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