02.11.2026 11:10
U.S. President Donald Trump reacted sharply to the $50 million deal his former lawyer Alina Habba secretly made with a Venezuelan billionaire family. Trump demanded a share of Habba's earnings, calling the situation "unacceptable."
Alina Habba Mildon, the former lawyer of US President Donald Trump, who made headlines with her marriage to Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, has now become the focus of controversy with a $50 million deal. The US president reacted sharply to Habba after it was alleged that she made a deal with a company owned by a Venezuelan billionaire family without Trump’s knowledge, and he described the deal as “unacceptable.” It was reported that Trump asked his former lawyer to donate a portion of the income she would earn to an organization connected to him.
Under the deal that prompted Trump’s reaction, 42-year-old Habba agreed to serve as general manager responsible for legal affairs at Concord Partners, a company founded by the daughter of Venezuelan billionaire Julio Herrera Velutini.
Trump voiced his discomfort with the deal in an interview with Fox News at a Halloween party held at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday.
“I thought it was terrible. I said I didn’t want her to be paid. We sent someone to meet with the people who arranged this. Habba used her relationship with them to make this deal, and the amount paid was too much,” Trump said, continuing:
“It is one thing for a person to receive legal fees or a similar payment. She is a lawyer. But I found this extremely disturbing and unacceptable. What she did is absolutely unacceptable.”
Trump demanded a share of his former lawyer’s earnings
According to The New York Times, Trump told at least one person in his inner circle that the Herrera family should not make the remaining payments to Habba under the contract.
Trump’s aides and people in his inner circle said that the US president asked Habba to donate a portion of the income she would earn from the deal to the planned presidential library or another organization connected to him.
Habba signed a four-year contract with Concord Partners last year and officially began her role on January 1.
The New York Times report noted that at the time the deal was made, the company founder’s father, Julio Herrera Velutini, was facing bribery allegations as part of a misdemeanor charge related to the financing of election campaigns. Velutini benefited from a presidential pardon granted by Trump in January 2026.
Her marriage to Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon had made headlines
Alina Habba married Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon in September 2025 in a lavish ceremony in New York. The couple, who tied the knot only a few months after meeting, drew the attention of the international press, especially because of the age gap between them.
While some sources claimed that Mildon was 25 years old, it was alleged that Habba was 17 years older than him.
The New York Times spoke with Mildon’s former schoolmates and included their statements that he was 25. The newspaper also obtained copies of the photo ID pages of Mildon’s US visa and Turkish passport. Both documents showed his date of birth as December 2, 2000.
While the reason for the age controversy has not yet been clarified, the Daily Mail reached out to Mildon’s company Miller Holding and to Habba to get statements on the matter.
Turkish billionaire’s $5.6 million donation to the Kennedy Center sparked controversy
Turhan Mildon, the grandson of one of the leading figures in Turkey’s energy sector, has also become the focus of controversy in Trump’s inner circle in recent weeks due to the donation he planned to make to the Kennedy Center.
Habba accused Ric Grenell, the former director of the Kennedy Center, of failing to transfer to the institution the $5.6 million she said her husband donated to the arts institution in Washington, DC. Grenell denied the allegations.
According to the Daily Mail earlier this month, the White House launched an investigation into the donation.
It is not exactly known when and how Mildon and Habba met. The couple appeared in public together for the first time in April. At that time, the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was interrupted due to an armed attack threat.
In the following months, Mildon attended numerous White House events with Habba. The couple married in September in a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. The hotel had recently reopened after extensive renovations.
This marriage was Habba’s third and, according to reports at the time, Mildon’s second. Mildon’s marriage in 2021 to a member of the family of a well-known Turkish businessman ended in 2024.
Turhan Mildon was also alleged to have married in Venezuela
The New York Times wrote that some people from Mildon’s former inner circle raised a striking claim. According to this, before meeting Habba, Mildon had married María Ceballos, the daughter of Venezuelan military commander Admiral Remigio Ceballos, last year in a religious ceremony that was not legally binding.
It was alleged that the relationship took place during a period when Mildon was trying to make commercial agreements in Venezuela.
Mildon’s spokesperson, however, said in a statement to The New York Times that the couple had only held an engagement ceremony. Nevertheless, it was alleged that Ceballos introduced Mildon to her friends as her husband.
Since a religious marriage ceremony alone is not considered a legal marriage in Turkey, it seems legally possible for Mildon to say that they only had an engagement, even though Ceballos describes the relationship as a marriage.
His companies’ revenue exceeded $2.6 billion
Turhan Mildon, who describes himself as a billionaire, previously stated in an interview with Forbes Türkiye that his companies’ revenues in 2025 exceeded $2.6 billion. Mildon also has commercial activities in Venezuela and Congo.
It was noted that Mildon entered Trump’s inner circle through Habba, while it was alleged that the dispute over the Kennedy Center donation also caused discomfort in the White House.
After Habba raised her allegations regarding the $5.6 million she claimed was missing, she turned to Trump’s White House legal adviser Will Scharf and instructed that the matter be investigated.
It was reported that Habba told Scharf, “Take this matter seriously, investigate what happened, and inform me as soon as possible.”
Grenell, meanwhile, denied Habba’s allegations in a later phone call with Trump.
The former Kennedy Center director categorically denied the allegations in a statement to the Daily Mail:
“This is complete nonsense. I never wanted money to be sent somewhere else by making it look as if a donation had been made to the Kennedy Center. I did not receive any payment belonging to her either.”
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