Donald Trump claims 'anonymous billionaire' sent $130,000,000 to pay troops during US government shutdown

Donald Trump just claimed that an anonymous donor sent him $130,000,000 to pay the military amid the ongoing US government shutdown.

Speaking to reporters at the White House yesterday (Thursday, 23 October) the US President, 79, dropped the bombshell but refused to name-drop who it was.

For those not in the loop, on October 1, the American government officially shut down after Republicans and Democrats couldn't agree on policies - which meant the Senate was unable to pass a spending bill.

The shutdown, which has been going on for over four weeks now, means that federally-funded programmes like food assistance, pre-schools, the issuing of student loans, food inspections, operations at national parks and more have all stopped, and staff have been put on temporary leave.

As per CNN, federal workers are bearing the brunt, with more than 1 million of them going unpaid.

Federal workers who are deemed essential, such as the FBI, CIA, border protection, in-hospital medical care, law enforcement, air-traffic control, the armed forces, and the National Weather Service, are still being asked to work, however, without pay.

On Thursday, the Senate failed to pass legislation that would keep essential federal workers and troops paid throughout the shutdown.

As reported by the Guardian, Democrats opposed the legislation, with their argument being that it will just give Trump more power by letting him decide which employees receive pay.

But as we say, it looks like Trump isn't going to be too strapped for cash thanks to his mystery billionaire pal.

Speaking to reporters, he announced: "Talking about donors, a friend of mine. A man that's great. I'm not gonna use his name unless he lets me do it.

"As soon as he can tell you about this, but he called us the other day and said he'd like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the Democrat shutdown."

Quoting what the donor said, Trump continued: "I'd like to personally contribute any shortfall you have with the military because I love the military and I love the country.

"Any shortfall - if there's a shortfall I'll contribute it."

The US President then declared: "And today he sent us a cheque for $130,000,000."

A mystery donor has reportedly paid $130,000,000 to fund the military (Bloomberg/Getty Images)

When a reporter quizzed the Republican leader on who this person is, he said: "I would love to tell you. He deserves...he doesn't really want the recognition if you wanna know the truth, but he gave us a cheque for $130,000,000. It's gonna go to the military."

Understandably, people on the internet have rushed to hedge their bets on who this secret donor could be, with the top guesses being Elon Musk and Jared Isaacman.

One Twitter user penned: "I hope they get named eventually. The people want to know which patriot is paying the troops!"

While a second added: "I mean, who else would it be? @elonmusk."

Meanwhile, a third reasoned: "It doesn't seem like that would make much of a dent in the military payroll. It's great, sure, but it isn't getting that job done."

And someone else sarcastically penned: "Oh cool, so everyone in the military is going to get maybe 100 bucks. I'm sure that will help them out tremendously!!"