Buying the Military

What can one say

The New York Times has identified the anonymous “Trump pal” paying military salaries during the government shutdown: a trust fund recluse who saw fit to part with $130 million of his fortune to help the President avoid political damage.

One wonders if he’s in the Epstein files. I’m just asking questions—that’s how you do it, right?

I have nothing to base this speculation on except the pattern we keep observing: wealthy men with unclear motivations using their fortunes to purchase access, influence, and now—apparently—the gratitude of armed forces personnel. A recluse who’s managed to stay anonymous while writing checks that would make most lottery winners weep decides this is the moment to deploy his wealth. For Trump. To pay troops.

Nothing suspicious there.

Maybe I’m being epistemically irresponsible. I don’t know.

But let’s set aside the question of who this person is and focus on what’s actually happening: A private citizen is paying members of the United States military.

Read that again slowly.

This isn’t a charity helping veterans with medical bills. This isn’t a foundation supporting military families. This is a billionaire directly compensating active-duty service members for their service—service that’s supposed to be rendered to the Constitution, not to whoever can write the biggest check when the government they’ve sworn to defend stops functioning.

The American military swears an oath to the Constitution. Not to the President. Not to billionaires. To the document that establishes civilian control of armed forces precisely to prevent what we’re watching happen in real time: the creation of personal loyalty structures outside constitutional chains of command.

It’s full-on coup shit.

But if you say that out loud, you’re being hysterical. You’re catastrophizing. You’re suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. You’re seeing fascism where there’s just a generous billionaire helping out during tough times.

Except this isn’t generosity—it’s purchasing. And what’s being purchased is something that should never be for sale: the loyalty of armed forces.

The Roman Republic fell when generals commanded personal loyalty from legions rather than institutional loyalty to the Senate. Soldiers stopped asking “what does the Republic require?” and started asking “what does my patron want?” Once that shift occurred—once military loyalty became personal rather than institutional—the Republic was finished. It just took a few more decades for everyone to realize it.

We’re watching the same pattern unfold. Slowly. In ways that seem reasonable if you examine each piece in isolation. A shutdown happens (unfortunate but not unprecedented). Troops might go unpaid (concerning but temporary). A wealthy donor steps in (generous, even admirable). The President praises this generosity (natural response to someone helping solve his problem).

But zoom out. Look at the whole sequence. What you’re seeing is the systematic replacement of constitutional obligation with personal patronage. The erosion of institutional authority in favor of individual power. The transformation of citizenship into clientelism.

And when you point this out—when you name what’s happening with the clarity it deserves—you’re accused of overreacting. Of being unserious. Of failing to understand that this is just how things work now.

That’s the gaslighting. That’s how authoritarianism normalizes itself. Not through dramatic overnight transformation but through accumulated violations, each individually deniable, that collectively reshape the structure of power until constitutional authority is a formality and personal loyalty is what matters.

A trust fund recluse just paid $130 million to create debts of gratitude running from US military personnel through Donald Trump to an anonymous benefactor whose motivations we can only guess at.

If you think that’s fine—if you think there’s nothing concerning about private wealth directly compensating military service members to solve political problems for the President—then you’ve already accepted that constitutional authority is negotiable. That military loyalty can be purchased. That the institutions designed to prevent exactly this kind of capture no longer constrain power.

I’m just asking questions. Like: how long until this recluse wants something in return? How long until the troops who got paid remember who made sure they got paid? How long until “I serve the Constitution” becomes “I serve whoever ensures I can feed my family”?

These aren’t hysterical questions. They’re the questions citizens should ask when private wealth starts replacing constitutional function.

But one will accuse you of hysteria for asking them. That’s how you know they need asking.

The wire still holds. But it’s being cut, strand by strand, by people with enough money to buy what should never be for sale.

Two plus two equals four. Private citizens shouldn’t pay the military. And when they do, we should ask why.

Editor’s Note: A draft version of this went to email subscribers inaccurately claiming that Trump refused to sign a bipartisan funding agreement. That was NOT intended.

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