TOMs bro ponies up dough to pay military during shutdown

 

Oct 25, 2025 (278/1461)

One of TOMs bro’s has ponied up the dough to pay the military during the shutdown. I can’t even imagine the promises that are being made/asked for/created. And while this individual tried to remain anonymous, the sniffing press found him. “Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and a major financial backer of President Trump, is the anonymous private donor who gave $130 million to the U.S. government to help pay troops during the shutdown, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Trump announced the donation on Thursday night, but he declined to name the person who provided the funds, only calling him a “patriot” and a friend. But the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the donation was private, identified him as Mr. Mellon.

Shortly after departing Washington on Friday, Mr. Trump again declined to identify Mr. Mellon while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One. He only said the individual was “a great American citizen” and a “substantial man.” It remains unclear how far the donation will 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 requested about $600 billion in total military compensation. A $130 million donation would equal about $100 a service member.” Do we see the makings of a challenge match? Kind of a weird nationwide paddle raise situation. Stay tuned for more dinars to pour in from FOTs (friends of TOM). And for more lucrative contracts to roll out and more legislation to be passed that will ensure that these very fat cats stay chubby.

No surprise coming here that J Darth Vance is the King of Chameleons. “Online, overseas and in the halls of the White House, Vice President JD Vance has taken on a far more visible role in recent weeks.

He flew to Israel to help keep the U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal with Hamas on track. He has been President Trump’s attack dog on redistricting and the government shutdown, trolling Democrats on social media and from the White House. And when critics of the administration’s foreign policy called U.S. strikes in the waters off Venezuela a war crime, Mr. Vance shot back on X: “I don’t give a shit what you call it.” But in the process, Mr. Vance has shifted his positions and defended or promoted views he once opposed, even as recently as the 2024 presidential campaign. On issues like foreign entanglements, free speech and the Jeffrey Epstein files, Mr. Vance has had to backtrack on or simply ignore a string of flip-flops. Some of his shifts have already risked putting him at odds with members of Mr. Trump’s MAGA base who liked his original defenses of military restraint and free speech. They have also helped focus new attention on a question that has hung over him during his rise from author who disparaged Mr. Trump as “America’s Hitler” to the Senate to No. 2 in the White House: What does JD Vance believe?

“Is this a conversion, a political conversion, or is this something of a political convenience?” said Matthew Bartlett, a G.O.P. strategist and former State Department official under Mr. Trump. “In politics today, authenticity reigns supreme.” I would offer that Vance is authentic. Authentically shady and untrustworthy. Buyer beware.