Trump official is accused of stealing $6 million from Trump Donor

Washington — President Trump has directed White House counsel to examine allegations that former Kennedy Center leader Ric Grenell failed to deposit a nearly $6 million donation intended for the institution from the husband of former Trump attorney Alina Habba, according to multiple senior administration officials and people briefed on the matter.

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Habba raised the issue directly with Trump during an Oval Office meeting last Friday, sources told Axios. She alleged that Grenell, who served as the center’s executive director until around March 2026, arranged for her husband, Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, to include the contribution as part of a larger $17.6 million payment connected to a business deal involving a U.S. company in spring 2025. The portion meant for the Kennedy Center never arrived, she told the president.

Grenell has forcefully denied the claims. “It’s an absurd claim,” he said in a statement. “I’ve never asked for one cent to be sent somewhere else pretending it was for the Kennedy Center and I’ve never received any payment from him at all. Make him give proof to what he is saying, not make these absurd allegations.”

Kennedy Center records show no evidence of a multimillion-dollar gift from Mildon. Officials said the only documented obligation was a $270,000 pledged donation, which Mildon paid this week. A former finance official at the center told Axios she had no knowledge of a $6 million contribution and would have known about one of that size. Staff reportedly searched late last year for a contribution then believed to be around $6 million but could not locate it.

The amount cited in Habba’s account has also shifted. Sources said she initially described the disputed sum as $17 million before revising it to $5.6 million after obtaining more details from her husband. Habba and Mildon declined to comment through a spokesperson. Habba’s attorneys have indicated they plan to provide documentation to the White House supporting the allegations, though officials said no proof had been submitted as of earlier this week.

The dispute has been described by people familiar with the situation as a sharp rupture between two figures previously aligned in Trump’s orbit. Grenell and Mildon had developed a relationship in early 2025 tied to shared interests involving Venezuela. Grenell, then serving as a special envoy, had advocated for normalizing relations with the Venezuelan government, while Mildon held business interests there that later faced complications. The relationship frayed amid internal administration dynamics and after Grenell did not attend Mildon and Habba’s wedding last month.

A senior administration official cautioned that the claims remain unverified. “These are only allegations. We don’t know if they’re true. This could be a misunderstanding,” the official said. Another official noted that President Trump is concerned but reluctant to engage with the dispute, adding that missing funds would constitute “a big, big problem.” Some people close to the administration who are otherwise critical of Grenell have also expressed doubt about Habba’s account.

The White House counsel’s office is reviewing the matter. As of now, no public findings have confirmed that the larger sum was intended for the Kennedy Center, transferred as described, or diverted. The episode has drawn attention as an example of personal and financial tensions among Trump allies intersecting with the operations of the Kennedy Center, which has undergone significant leadership and directional changes under the current administration.