An internal White House investigation has traced a financial dispute between two of Donald Trump's political allies to an origin investigators had not initially anticipated. At the centre of the dispute, according to a report published Saturday, was a $17.6 million transfer tied to an account connected to the Democratic Republic of Congo's government — a transaction that became the subject of a conflict between Richard Grenell, who previously led the Kennedy Center, and Alina Habba Mildon, who once served as Trump's personal attorney.
Habba Mildon visited the Oval Office the previous week and informed officials that Grenell had received millions of dollars through a 2025 business arrangement structured by Turkish investor Turhan Mildon — the person she had married one month before those dealings were put in place. Her account held that a portion of the funds had been set aside for a Kennedy Center contribution that never reached its destination.
According to a broadcast outlet, the explanation she initially offered White House staff identified her husband as the source of the money. The records his attorney provided had the sender's identity obscured, and those with knowledge of the situation later told the newspaper that investigators traced the money to a bank account tied to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Through a spokesman, Mildon confirmed that he serves in an advisory role to the Congolese president and holds one of the nation's diplomatic passports. Milvest, the firm he leads, secured multiple government-awarded construction contracts in that country, and he has stated that mining interests there fall under his ownership.
The funds were received by TX-AT, a defense and security contractor based in Texas. Grenell stated that his consulting work for the firm dates to 2024, while maintaining that no connection to it existed at the time the transfer occurred and that he bears no relation to the payment in question.
Mildon's commercial holdings in Venezuela — a subject the two men had previously discussed — overlapped with the portfolio of interests tied to his role as Trump's special envoy at that point in time. What the arrangement was intended to achieve has not been made clear, according to broadcasting reports. No comment from TX-AT had been provided by the time of publication.
Grenell characterised the allegations from Habba Mildon as without merit, stating in a post on X earlier that week that no funds had ever been directed elsewhere under the guise of Kennedy Center contributions and that he had received no payment from that individual at any point. No statement beyond what had already been shared was offered to the broadcaster.
White House Counsel Scharf, who is currently overseeing the inquiry, had attended the couple's wedding at New York's Waldorf Astoria the month prior, a ceremony at which a number of other senior administration figures were also present. One anonymous source, speaking to a broadcaster that week, described the broader situation as a deeply contested power struggle within the movement.
