The White House is investigating a 17.6 million dollar transfer from the Democratic Republic of Congo to a Texas defence company, at the centre of a bitter feud between two prominent Trump allies: Ric Grenell and Alina Habba Mildon.
According to the New York Times, the money was wired in May 2025 to Texas Armament and Technology, a Houston-based defence firm. The dispute centres on claims that 5.6 million dollars of the sum was meant as a donation to the Kennedy Center but never arrived. Centre staff later found only a 270,000 dollar pledge, which has since been paid, according to reports.
Whose money is it
The money’s origin is the explosive question. Habba told Trump the funds came from her husband’s own account, but a White House official told Axios the 17.6 million dollars actually came from the DR Congo’s finance ministry. “We’re trying to find out whose money this is,” the official said, according to reports. Documents given to the White House had the sender’s name redacted.
The dispute broke into the open on October 9, when Habba, the former Trump attorney who married Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon in September 2026, told Trump in the Oval Office: “Ric stole the money!” Trump then directed White House counsel Will Scharf to examine the claims, according to reports.
Grenell denies everything
Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany and former acting director of national intelligence who ran the Kennedy Center from February 2025 to March 2026, has rejected the allegations and denied receiving money from Mildon or redirecting Kennedy Center funds, according to reports. Axios also described an alleged text in which Grenell offered access to “POTUS” and VIP events, a message whose authenticity has not been independently established. No charge, indictment or court proceeding has been filed against him.
