Newsmax legal analyst Andrew Napolitano suggested President Donald Trump was not telling the truth when he claimed that a billionaire’s $130 million donation could be used to pay military troops during the government shutdown.
Speaking on Monday, Napolitano reacted to the $130 donation by Timothy Mellon, which Trump promised would “make sure that the military got paid.”
“Well, look, he’s obviously a very charitable person,” the legal analyst said. “However, the government can’t spend that money because the Constitution says no money shall be spent from the public treasury, but that which has been authorized by Congress.”
“And Congress, in furtherance of that constitutional language, wrote legislation, which is signed into law, which says the Defense Department can’t spend money that are gifts,” he continued. “So the money is probably sitting somewhere, but the government can’t spend it.”
“I don’t know what they can do with that money. They can’t spend it under this legislation.”
Napolitano, however, was curious about what the government did with the donation.
“If we have a reporter with Treasury Secretary Bessent in the Far East, please ask him, where is that cash?” he remarked.
