Trump Calls Ex-Lawyer Habba Mildon's $50 Million Venezuela Contract Unacceptable

President Donald Trump said on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Palm Beach that it was unacceptable for his former lawyer Alina Habba Mildon to secure a $50 million contract for herself, Reuters reported. The New York Times reported that Trump erupted last week after learning she had landed the deal to work for a billionaire Venezuelan family, and that he has told aides and allies she should donate a portion of the money, including to his future presidential library. The Times also reported that Habba told Trump in the Oval Office on Oct. 9 that Ric Grenell, who ran the Kennedy Center, never delivered about $5.6 million of a $17.6 million wire her husband, Turhan Mildon, sent in May 2025. Grenell denies this, and White House counsel Will Scharf was told to look into it. The wire went to TX-AT, a Texas security and defense equipment company, and the Times reported the money came from a bank account linked to the Congolese government. On Saturday the Times also reported that Mildon is 25, not 29, citing classmates and his visa and Turkish passport.

The right-leaning Daily Mail centers on Mildon's age. It stresses that Habba, 42, is 17 years older than her husband, notes his listed birth date of Dec. 2, 2000, says he was engaged to another woman last year, and mentions the Kennedy Center donation only as background. It leaves out Trump's demand for a share of the contract. The left-leaning MS NOW and Talking Points Memo lead with that demand. MS NOW says Trump thinks money earned in his orbit should include him, and TPM likens it to a mob boss's cut, describes a feud between Grenell and Habba, and guesses that Grenell leaked the $50 million figure. Both sides rely on the Times, and neither disputes the $50 million deal. The alternative outlet ZeroHedge differs by dwelling on the wire, Habba's shifting figures and the Congolese funding, and notes the Times had not verified her accusations.