- Author, Graeme Baker
- Role, BBC News, Washington
Donald Trump's presidential campaign has received a $50 million (£39.5 million) boost from conservative billionaire Timothy Mellon, a federal filing revealed on Thursday.
The super-PAC fund, called “MAGA Inc.”, told the Federal Election Commission that it received more than $68 million from donors last month.
Mr. Mellon, the heir to the Pittsburgh-based Mellon banking family, gave $50 million, Reuters reported. The other $10 million came from billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein.
US media reported that Mr Mellon sent the donation on the day Trump was convicted in New York on 34 charges of falsifying business records in a hush-money scandal.
Mr. Mellon has also been the biggest donor to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., donating at least $20 million to the pro-Kennedy super-pac American Values.
Super-PACs are independent “political action committees” that can raise unlimited amounts of money to support an election candidate.
Mellon's donations have helped pro-Trump allies spend more on the campaign in recent weeks than allies of US President Joe Biden.
Mr. Mellon, who lives in Wyoming and is rarely photographed, is an amateur pilot who has invested in and led transportation-related companies.
Forbes estimates the Mellon family's net worth to be approximately $14.1 billion.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that billionaire Mike Bloomberg has given nearly $20 million to pro-Biden super-PACs.
Mr. Bloomberg's contributions included $19 million to an independent pro-Biden group called Future Forward, or FF PAC.
An additional $900,000 was given to the Biden Victory Fund, an amalgamation of the Biden campaign and Democratic Party committees.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Thursday, the pro-Kennedy super-PAC reported that it had received only $280,000 last month, none of it from Mr. Mellon.