This story originally appeared on The Advocate.
A disputed text message promising proximity to President Donald Trump has put Ric Grenell at the center of a White House inquiry into a multimillion-dollar Kennedy Center donation that allegedly never arrived.
The allegations, detailed in an Axios report Monday, connect fundraising at a national cultural institution with foreign business dealings and access to presidential power. Grenell denies sending the message and rejects accusations that he diverted money.
The complaint comes from another Trump insider: Alina Habba, the president’s former lawyer and former U.S. attorney for New Jersey. Her new husband, Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, alleges that Grenell directed a $17.6 million payment to a Texas defense company, with approximately $5.6 million intended for the Kennedy Center.
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According to Axios, White House counsel Will Scharf is investigating at Trump’s direction.
“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,” the May 3, 2025, message reads, according to Axios, which reviewed it.
Grenell, who is gay, led the Kennedy Center at the time while also serving as Trump’s special envoy to Venezuela, where Mildon had contracts. The same message allegedly proposed making Mildon the “‘American face’ down in V.”
The allegations follow earlier scrutiny of Grenell’s management. As The Advocate reported in April, former visual arts curator Josef Palermo described donor packages offering access to Trump and alleged that political connections increasingly shaped staffing and programming. Grenell stepped down in March following a tenure marked by staff departures and artist cancellations. Palermo’s account does not establish the allegations now under investigation.
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Mildon’s attorneys provided the White House with correspondence and a record of a May 29, 2025, transfer to Texas Armament & Technology, Axios reported. Mildon alleges the payment combined a Congo-related business transaction with the proposed donation.
But financial records reportedly identified Congo’s Finance Ministry as the source, complicating Habba’s initial account that her husband provided the money. Her description of the donation also shifted from $17 million to roughly $6 million.
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“We’re trying to find out whose money this is,” a White House official told Axios.
Grenell has categorically denied wrongdoing.
“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 previously told the outlet.
Habba brought her allegations to Trump on October 9, prompting the inquiry. Axios reported that Kennedy Center insiders later told the White House that Mildon attended exclusive events, including appearances in the vice president’s box.
