President Donald Trump has condemned his former attorney Alina Habba Mildon’s reported $50 million agreement to work for a billionaire Venezuelan family, saying the deal was arranged behind his back and demanding that some of the money go to a Trump-affiliated organization.
Trump criticized Habba, 42, after she accepted a lucrative position as general counsel at Concord Partners, a company founded by the daughter of Venezuelan financier Julio Herrera Velutini.
“I thought it was terrible,” Trump told Fox News on Saturday during a Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago. “I said I don’t want her paid. We had somebody speak to the people that did it, and she used her relationship to do that and it was far too much.”
“You know, it’s one thing for a person to get paid legal fees or whatever—she’s a lawyer. I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it’s not acceptable, not acceptable at all.”
“It’s unacceptable what she did,” Trump added.
The New York Times reported that Trump told at least one ally the Herrera family should not pay Habba the remaining money owed under her contract.
According to sources cited by the newspaper, Trump’s aides and allies also said he wanted Habba to contribute part of the deal’s proceeds to his future presidential library or another Trump-related entity.
Habba agreed last year to a four-year position with Concord Partners and officially began serving as the company’s general counsel on January 1.
President Donald Trump criticized his former attorney Alina Habba, 42, after she accepted a lucrative general counsel position with a company founded by the daughter of Julio Herrera Velutini
Sources told the Times that Trump wanted Habba to donate part of the deal’s proceeds to his future presidential library or another Trump-affiliated organization
Habba agreed to a four-year position with the company last year and formally began the job on January 1
The Times reported that, around the time Habba joined the company, Velutini was facing bribery charges connected to a misdemeanor campaign finance violation. He received a pardon in January 2026, according to the newspaper.
Habba had also recently married Turkish billionaire Turhan Mildon. The couple held a lavish New York City wedding in September, only months after reportedly meeting.
The wedding drew attention after reports claimed Habba was 17 years older than her new husband, who was said to be 25.
The Times spoke with former classmates of Mildon who said he was 25. The newspaper also reviewed his U.S. visa and the photo page of his Turkish passport, both of which gave his date of birth as December 2, 2000.
The source of the discrepancy remains unclear. The Daily Mail contacted Mildon’s company, Miller Holding, and Alina Habba for comment.
Mildon, the grandson of a Turkish energy magnate, has become a source of tension within Trump’s circle in recent weeks because of a planned donation to the Kennedy Center.
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Habba accused former Kennedy Center chief Ric Grenell of failing to transfer $5.6 million that Mildon says he donated to the Washington, D.C., arts institution. Grenell has denied the allegation, while the White House continues to investigate the matter, the Daily Mail reported earlier this month.
It remains unclear when or where Mildon and Habba first met. They were publicly seen together for the first time in April, when an active-shooter incident brought the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to an early end.
The Times reported that Trump told at least one ally the Herrera family should not pay Habba the balance of her contract
The attorney had recently married Turkish billionaire Turhan Mildon in September in a glitzy wedding in New York City just months after they met
Mildon has been seen with Habba at a number of White House events in the months since, and the pair tied the knot in September in Manhattan’s newly-reopened Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
The ceremony marked Habba’s third wedding, and at the time it was reported that it was Mildon’s second wedding. His previous marriage in 2021 into the family of a prominent Turkish magnate ended in 2024.
However, the Times reported that several of Mildon’s former confidants said he had a legally non-binding religious marriage to María Ceballos, the daughter of Venezuelan military commander Adm. Remigio Ceballos, last year.
That relationship, before Mildon met Habba, reportedly took place at a time when Mildon was pursuing business deals in Venezuela.
Mildon’s spokesperson told the Times that the couple only had an engagement ceremony, however, Ceballos reportedly told friends she was his wife. Religious marriages in Turkey are not legally binding, so his statement that he was only engaged to Ceballos may be accurate even if his ex claims they wed.
Mildon has also portrayed himself as a billionaire, and he previously told Forbes Turkey that his companies’ revenues climbed over $2.6 billion in 2025.
He has business interests in Venezuela and the Congo.
Mildon came into President Trump’s orbit via Habba, with the ongoing wrangle over his donation to the Kennedy Center said to have caused Trump considerable stress.
After Habba laid out her claims about what she says is the missing $5.6 million, Trump is said to have turned to White House counsel Will Scharf and said: ‘Take this seriously, figure it out, and come back to me ASAP.’
Grenell denied Habba’s claims in a subsequent phone call with Trump.
He again denied the donation claim in a statement given to the Daily Mail, saying: ‘It’s absurd. 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,’ Grenell said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
‘Make [Mildon] give proof to what he is claiming he gave.’