Texts Allege Grenell Promised Trump Access for $5.6M Kennedy Center Gift That Never Arrived
Alleged text messages first reported by Axios say former Kennedy Center chief Ric Grenell promised a Turkish businessman access to President Trump and VIP events in exchange for a $5.6 million donation to the center; the money never reached the venue, and the White House counsel's office is investigating.
The White House counsel’s office is investigating former Kennedy Center chief Ric Grenell after alleged text messages surfaced in which he promised Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon access to President Trump and administration VIP events in exchange for a $5.6 million donation to the performing arts center that never arrived, according to reporting first published by Axios.
“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 to Mildon in a May 3, 2025, text message, the New York Post reported Monday.
The alleged donation was to come from a larger $17.6 million wire transfer that Mildon sent to Texas Armament & Technology, a Houston-based defense software company. Mildon provided the White House with financial records for the wire, dated May 29, 2025. But Axios reported that the money did not come from Mildon’s own account. It was sent by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s “Ministère des Finances,” the Post reported.
How the inquiry started
Mildon’s wife, Alina Habba, brought the matter to the president directly. Habba, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, then briefly at the White House, and later as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, told Trump during an Oct. 9 Oval Office meeting that her husband had been duped into providing the funds, the Post reported.
Mildon and Habba met earlier this year at the Kennedy Center and were married on Sept. 26, according to the Post. Grenell ran the Kennedy Center while serving as a special presidential envoy to Venezuela, where Mildon operates state-owned cement plants.
What Grenell says
Grenell denied sending the text message, pointing to the British spelling of “Centre” as evidence it was not his, the Post reported. He did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.
In an earlier statement to Axios, Grenell called the allegations 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,” he said, referring to Mildon. “Make him give proof to what he is saying, not make these absurd allegations.”
Axios also reported that the Kennedy Center’s books list a $270,000 pledge in Mildon’s name, paid in full on Oct. 13, four days after Habba’s Oval Office meeting. No charges have been filed against Grenell.
Grenell is a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and a former acting director of national intelligence.
Reporting based on coverage by the New York Post and Axios.
