Linda McMahon, former WWE executive and former head of the Small Business Administration, quietly bankrolled Donald Trump's raucous Oct. 27 rally at Madison Square Garden.

On Oct. 18, McMahon, who also chairs the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute, cut a check for $1 million to the America First Action Fund—a super political action committee so new that it hadn’t even registered yet with the Federal Election Commission. New filings show that she nearly funded the new super PAC by herself. Besides her $1 million check, the only other donor was Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) leadership PAC, which chipped in $150,000.

Four days after McMahon’s big gift, America First Action Fund paid $500,000 to Madison Square Garden. On the following Sunday, some 19,500 reportedly packed the sold-out Midtown Manhattan arena to hear Trump deliver a 78-minute speech. (Among the warm-up acts was McMahon’s one-time employee Hulk Hogan.) Trump clearly relished the venue. “I just want to say a very big hello to a special place, New York, and to an incredible arena, Madison Square Garden, incredible,” Trump said near the beginning of his remarks, going on to continue his praise. “There’s no place like Madison Square Garden.”

While Trump, no doubt, hoped headlines about the event would focus on him selling out an arena in liberal New York City in the waning days of the campaign, it was warm-up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe—whose remarks about Puerto Rico drew condemnation, with even Trump’s campaign trying to distance itself—who grabbed most of the headlines.

McMahon didn’t just pay for the venue. It looks like her largess covered other expenses related to the rally too, most notably7,000 for event signage and $11,000 for assorted travel expenses.

All told, the PAC spent at least $720,000 through Nov. 25, the latest reporting date. The leftover funds that didn’t go to Madison Square Garden or travel costs paid for ads to benefit Trump and Republican candidates for Congress as well as compliance services.

McMahon served two years as the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, leaving in 2019 to run a different pro-Trump super PAC. She contributed at least $22 million to Trump’s 2024 reelection efforts. It was money well spent: On Nov. 19, Trump announced he was nominating her to return to his cabinet, this time as Secretary of Education.

“Thank you for this extraordinary opportunity,” McMahon wrote in response on X. “I am ready to serve!”

Spokespeople for McMahon, Trump and America First Action Fund did not respond to inquiries. A spokesperson for Madison Square Garden declined to speak on the record.