National

New York [US], June 21: Private billionaire Timothy Mellon has donated $50 million to a political action group supporting former President Donald Trump, one of the largest donations in history.
The New York Times on June 20 cited declarations showing that billionaire Timothy Mellon, heir to the huge fortune left by the late Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon (1855-1937), had sponsored 50 million USD for The super political action committee (PAC) supporting Mr. Trump is Making America Great Again (MAGA).
The donation came shortly after Mr. Trump was convicted in a case of falsifying business records in New York to conceal hush money payments to porn stars.
In May, MAGA received more than 68 million USD in funding, most of which came from Mr. Mellon and 10 million USD from billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein, founders of packaging and shipping firm Uline, according to Reuters.
During this year's election season, Mr. Mellon donated $100 million to candidates, the first person to set this milestone. He is the largest donor to super PACs supporting Mr. Trump and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Democrats believe that Mr. Kennedy is an opponent participating in the race to reduce President Joe Biden's votes, thereby increasing the chance of victory for Republican candidate Mr. Donald Trump.
Mr. Mellon has funded many anti- immigrant measures and is a major donor to a fund led by the state of Texas to build a wall on the US border with Mexico. In 2020, Mr. Mellon supported Mr. Trump in the election against Mr. Biden.
According to USA Today , Mr. Mellon lives in Wyoming and is very private, rarely being photographed. He is an amateur pilot and has invested in transportation-related companies such as Pan American World Airways. Forbes estimates the Mellon family has a net worth of $14.1 billion.
In 2016, Mr. Mellon self-published an autobiography with words criticizing people of color for using social security programs. A book with a similar title is expected to be published in July with a cover quote from Mr. Kennedy: "Tim Mellon is a brilliant businessman who has demonstrated the most admirable qualities of what FDR (late President Franklin D. Roosevelt) called 'American industrial genius'".
Mr. Mellon has donated at least $20 million to a super PAC supporting Mr. Kennedy, the American Values ​​organization, according to Reuters. However, according to this organization's announcement on June 20, they only received about 280,000 USD in funding in May and no money from Mr. Mellon.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper