WASHINGTON — Ric Grenell, the embattled former executive director of the Kennedy Center, allegedly offered Turkish billionaire Turhan Mildon access to President Trump while soliciting an alleged $5.6 million contribution to the performing arts institution—money that was never deposited.
The White House counsel’s office has been examining whether Grenell failed to deliver the funds to the Kennedy Center. The inquiry intensified after Mildon’s new wife, Alina Habba, told Trump directly during an Oct. 9 Oval Office meeting that her husband had been misled into providing the money.
“Once the money comes to the company here, I will arrange the donation to Kennedy Centre [sic], and you’ll be joining the VIP events and get close with the administration, even with POTUS,” Grenell allegedly wrote in a May 3, 2025, text message first reported by Axios.
The proposed $5.6 million donation was reportedly supposed to come from a larger $17.6 million wire transfer that Mildon sent to the defense software company Texas Armament & Technology.
Grenell, a former US ambassador to Germany and former acting director of national intelligence under Trump, reportedly denied writing the message. He cited the use of British English in the spelling of “Centre.” Grenell did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Still, a Post source said Axios’ account of the text was consistent with information the source had received about the unusual scandal.
Mildon has given the White House financial records showing a May 29, 2025, transfer of $17.6 million to the Texas company. Axios, however, reported that the funds did not come from Mildon, but from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s “Ministère des Finances.”
Axios and The New York Times reported Monday that the transaction was tied to a business venture involving the Central African nation, although neither publication detailed the project. In 2024, Mildon said he operated limestone quarries as well as copper, cobalt and gold mines in the country.
Mildon and Habba reportedly met early this year at the Kennedy Center, which Trump has pursued plans to rebrand with his own name. The couple married on Sept. 26.
Habba previously served as Trump’s personal attorney and later worked briefly at the White House before becoming acting US attorney in New Jersey.
Grenell and Mildon also reportedly dealt with one another on matters involving Venezuela. At the time, Grenell was serving as a Trump envoy to then-President Nicolás Maduro, while Mildon operated state-owned cement plants in the South American country.
Following Maduro’s capture by US troops on Jan. 3, interim President Delcy Rodríguez canceled Mildon’s contract to operate the plants in June. The New York Times reported last week that Rodríguez paused the termination after learning about Mildon’s relationship with Habba.