India, Oct. 25 -- An unidentified private donor who sent $130 million to the government to assist pay US military during the federal shutdown, which is currently in its fourth week, is a reclusive millionaire, anti-tax activist, and significant financial supporter of Donald Trump.

According to the NY Times report on Saturday, which cited two unidentified sources acquainted with the arrangement, the donor is Timothy Mellon, the heir to the gilded age industrialist and former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon.

Earlier, Trump who hailed the donor as a "friend", "great American" and "patriot", refused to identify him, saying that "He doesn't want publicity".

"He prefers that his name not be mentioned, which is pretty unusual in the world I ...