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Report: 'Influence payment' scandal involving Trump allies rocks White House
2026-10-20 13:39:00 / BOTA
An alleged "influence payment" scheme has caused turmoil in the White House, pitting President Donald Trump's allies against each other and leading to the launch of a presidential investigation, a new journalistic report says.
Trump has ordered an investigation to determine whether one of his allies illegally embezzled a large donation intended for the Kennedy Center, the Axios website reported on Monday.
At the heart of the case is an alleged instruction from Richard Grenell, the former director of the Kennedy Center, to Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon last May. Grenell allegedly asked Mildon to transfer about $17 million to Houston-based Texas Armament & Technology — about $6 million of which was to go to the performing arts center.
"Once the money arrives at the company here, I will organize the donation to the 'Kennedy Center', and you will attend VIP events and build closeness with the administration, even with the president himself," reads a message sent by Grenell, according to the "Axios" portal.
Mildon's wife, Alina Habba, who served as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, has claimed that the Kennedy Center never accepted the donation. Grenell, who serves as a special presidential envoy, has denied sending the message and called the allegations against him false.
When contacted by Axios, Grenell declined to comment, although he had previously told the portal that the allegations against him were "absurd."
"I have never asked for a single penny to be sent anywhere else under the pretense that it was for the 'Kennedy Center,' and I have not received any payment from him," he said. "Let him provide evidence for what he says, instead of making these absurd allegations."
The Independent has emailed the White House and Mildon, and attempted to contact Habba and Grenell for comment.
Mildon said he was unaware for more than a year that the Kennedy Center had not received his donation, Axios reported. Another portion of the money was earmarked for a deal in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the exact details of which remain unclear.
Then, on October 9, Habba approached Trump in the Oval Office and accused Grenell of deceiving her husband, pushing him to pay millions for a donation that never materialized.
However, the amount mentioned by Habba appears to have changed. She initially claimed that the donation intended for the performing arts center amounted to $17 million, while it appears to have been $5.6 million.
“She didn’t have the facts straight,” an administration official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the outlet. “She came in there unprepared, without all the facts, screaming that Grenell was stealing. And the facts keep changing… That doesn’t mean Ric is out of danger. That looks really suspicious.”
After hearing Habbas’ complaint, Trump called White House counsel Will Scharf into his office and asked him to investigate. The two then called Grenell, who has denied the allegations. “There’s no way this is true. It’s crazy,” Grenell told them, according to Axios.
Mildon's lawyers submitted documents to the White House for review last week.
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