The White House investigation into a dispute between two prominent Trump supporters, Richard Grenell and Alina Habba Mildon, centers on a bank transfer from the Democratic Republic of Congo to a Texas defense company, people familiar with the matter said.
Mrs. Mildon, a former personal lawyer for President Trump, stormed into the Oval Office last week accusing Mr. Grenell of siphoning millions of dollars from a business transaction in 2025 organized by a Turkish investor who later became her husband. Part of the money, she claimed, was meant to be set aside for a donation to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts but was never delivered to the institution. Mr. Grenell ran the Kennedy Center at the time.
Responding to questions from The New York Times, Mr. Grenell denied all accusations, calling them absurd. Mr. and Mrs. Mildon didn’t respond to requests for comment. The White House also did not respond.
The dispute and resulting investigation have unfolded at a time of internal turmoil for the Trump administration, with the dramatic exit of his new press secretary and officials with ties to the president.
Mrs. Mildon and Mr. Grenell had once been close friends but have fallen out in recent months over Mr. Mildon’s business dealings. Their feud became public in recent days, after The Times began to inquire about Mr. Mildon’s business activities and his contributions to the Kennedy Center. The questions prompted Mrs. Mildon to relay her accusations directly to Mr. Trump last Friday.
Mrs. Mildon initially told White House officials that the money, $17.6 million, came from her now-husband, Turhan Mildon, whom she married last month. The initial set of documents that her husband’s lawyer submitted to the White House, however, redacted the name of the sender, according to the people familiar with the matter.
The White House later learned that the transfer was made from a bank account affiliated with the Congolese government, the people said. Mr. Mildon has previously acknowledged to The Times, through a spokesman, that he serves as an adviser to the Congolese president and holds a diplomatic passport of the country.
Mr. Mildon also has extensive business holdings in Venezuela and has discussed his role in that country with Mr. Grenell. At the time of the bank transfer, Mr. Grenell was serving as Mr. Trump’s special envoy to Venezuela.
The transfer was sent last year to TX-AT, a Texas security and defense firm. Mr. Grenell, who was ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence during Mr. Trump’s first term, previously acknowledged consulting for the firm in 2024. But he has said he had no connection to it at the time the transfer was made and denied any connection to the transfer.
One text message from June 2025, purportedly from Mr. Grenell, appears to be asking about payment related to a “software system.” It is not clear what transaction the text, which was reviewed by The Times, is referring to.
Mr. Grenell denied the authenticity of the text.
The purpose of the underlying business deal is unclear.
TX-AT did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Mr. Mildon built deep connections with the Congolese elites and acquired major business interests in the country since arriving there as a 20-something entrepreneur in 2021. He has previously said that he had met the Congolese president, Félix Tshisekedi, at an event in Istanbul and immediately jumped on the plane to explore investment opportunities in the resource-rich African country.
His company Milvest has since won several major government construction projects, including for the Kinshasa Financial Center. Mr. Mildon has previously said that he also owns mines in Congo.
Several senior Congolese politicians attended Mr. and Mrs. Mildon’s wedding in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York last month, as did various senior Trump administration officials. Among them was Will Scharf, the White House counsel who is leading the administration’s inquiry into the disputed payment.
The Congolese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Justin Makangara contributed reporting from Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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