Trump backer Timothy Mellon identified as donor of $130m for US troop pay during government shutdown

Reclusive Republican billionaire is descendant of gilded age industrialist and former treasury secretary Andrew Mellon

A reclusive billionaire, anti-tax crusader and major financial backer of Donald Trump has been named as the anonymous private donor who gave $130m to the government to help pay US troops during the federal shutdown that is now in its fourth week, according to the New York Times.

Timothy Mellon, heir to the gilded age industrialist and former treasury secretary Andrew Mellon, is the secret donor whom Trump has described as a friend", great American" and patriot", but has refused to name, the Times reported on Saturday, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the arrangement.