WASHINGTON: White House counsel Will Scharf is examining allegations that adviser Richard Grenell offered US President Donald Trump access in exchange for a Kennedy Centre donation. Grenell denies wrongdoing.
Axios disclosed on Monday that it had reviewed a disputed text allegedly sent by Grenell to Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon on May 3, 2025. The message described access to senior administration officials and exclusive events after money reached a US company. Grenell denies sending it.
Mildon claims he arranged a $17.6 million payment to Houston-based Texas Armament & Technology, with approximately $5.6 million intended for the Kennedy Centre. He maintains that the cultural institution never received its share.
At the time of the alleged arrangement, Grenell headed the centre.
Former Trump attorney Alina Habba, Mildon’s wife, raised the allegations with the president during an Oval Office meeting on October 9. Trump subsequently directed Scharf to examine the claims.
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However, the reported origin of the transfer has complicated the inquiry. An unnamed White House official identified the Democratic Republic of Congo’s finance ministry as the source of the funds, rather than Mildon’s personal bank account.
Investigators are trying to determine who owned the money and what the transaction was meant to finance. The relationship between the defence-company payment and the proposed cultural donation remains unclear.
For his part, Grenell maintains that he never asked anyone to divert money intended for the Kennedy Centre. He denies receiving any payment from Mildon.
The White House has not established that funds were misappropriated, and investigators are examining the disputed message’s authenticity.
