KENNEDY CENTER CASH
A disputed $17.6 million payment has pitted two Trump allies against each other.
A bitter feud inside President Donald Trump’s circle has escalated, with lawyers now getting involved.
A lawyer for Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, the 29-year-old husband of Trump’s former attorney Alina Habba, 42, sent a wire-transfer receipt and disputed text messages to White House counsel Will Scharf on Wednesday night, The New York Times reported.
They were submitted to support allegations against former Kennedy Center director Ric Grenell, who denies any wrongdoing.
The dispute concerns a $17.6 million transfer to TX-AT, a Texas defense and security equipment company. Habba told the White House that her husband made the payment at Grenell’s direction in May 2025 and believed $5.6 million would be set aside for the performing arts center.
She alleged that money never reached the institution. The Times reported that she was so angry, she “stormed” into the Oval Office for a summit with Trump.
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The Times also reported that it had not verified Habba’s accusations. Habba and Grenell have been contacted for comment.
One message submitted to the White House purportedly shows Grenell offering to make Mildon the “American face down in V,” a reference to Venezuela, where both men had interests.
Grenell told the Times he never sent that message or anything to that effect. He also denied that any financial transaction had taken place between him and Mildon or entities connected to the businessman.
“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,” Grenell told the newspaper.
He acknowledged consulting for TX-AT in 2024 but said he had no connection to the company when Mildon says he made the transfer. He also denied ever soliciting payments on its behalf.
Grenell has also rejected the allegations in an email to the Daily Beast, calling them “absurd” and demanding evidence from Mildon.
“Make him give proof to what he is saying, not make these absurd allegations,” he said.
The new details build on allegations first reported by Axios, which quoted a Trump insider describing the clash as the “ultimate MAGA blood feud.”
Habba took the accusations directly to the Oval Office last Friday after the Times sent her husband questions about his Venezuela business and relationships with Trump allies.
Her initial account varied, people familiar with the discussion told the Times. She eventually said most of the payment concerned a business transaction of which details remain unclear, with the rest intended for the Kennedy Center.
Trump, who appointed himself the center’s chairman, summoned Scharf to hear her allegations.
Axios initially reported that the White House had requested documentation but had not received it.
The Kennedy Center is also examining relevant pledges and funds and will share its findings with its board, a spokesman told the Times.
A separate donation has a clearer payment history. Mildon pledged $270,000 after a gala concert but only paid it this week, after the Times asked why he had not fulfilled the commitment.
He became a frequent guest at the center while cultivating Trump administration connections, networking with prominent Republicans, and eventually meeting Habba.
The falling-out also involves Venezuela, where Mildon has extensive business interests, and Grenell served as Trump’s special envoy.
The Times reported that U.S. officials and intelligence officers had scrutinized Mildon’s relationship with Alex Saab, a confidant of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro who awarded him a cement contract.
Even Mildon’s age has drawn questions. He says he is 29, while U.S. documents and British corporate records list him as 25, according to the Times. He declined to explain the discrepancy to the Times.
