Trump Probes Habba's Claim of Missing $5.6M Kennedy Center Gift
The Facts
- U.S. President Donald Trump has directed White House counsel Will Scharf to review allegations that a multimillion-dollar donation to the Kennedy Center was never deposited, according to Axios and the New York Post, which cited administration officials.
- Alina Habba, Trump's former personal attorney, told the president Friday in the Oval Office that Ric Grenell failed to deposit a nearly $6 million donation from her husband, Turkish investor Turhan Mildon, whom she married last month.
- Grenell denied the claim, calling it absurd and saying he never asked for "one cent to be sent somewhere else pretending it was for the Kennedy Center." He said he never received any payment from Mildon and demanded proof of the allegations.
Sources Split
LEFT
CENTER
RIGHT
+1
+1
ESTAB
CRIT
CENTER
PRO
ESTAB
The Spin
Narrative A
Routing a charitable gift through a private business payment makes no sense, which is why Habba's whole tale collapses under its own weight. A foreign investor like Mildon chasing favor in Washington has every reason to inflate what was given and blame someone else when the receipts don't match. A newcomer's messy family drama shouldn't smear longtime loyalty to the MAGA cause.
Narrative B
Grenell's "demanding proof" from others looks hypocritical when the money flowing through a political nonprofit in the same orbit has never been fully accounted for. Having the same operative handle both the group's finances and the Kennedy Center's books invites exactly the kind of questions they're now dodging. Regardless, leaking this story before Trump's team could get to the bottom of it only serves political score-setters.
Democratic narrative
One thing's for sure: this is a full-blown MAGA-on-MAGA blood feud. Trump's former personal attorney is accusing his former Kennedy Center director of mishandling millions, turning the president's own inner circle against itself. Just when it seemed like things couldn't get worse for the administration, Trump now has to sort out a money dispute between two of his own allies.
