US President Donald Trump has criticized a reported $50 million deal involving former personal lawyer Alina Habba Mildon, calling it unacceptable as questions grow over its timing and terms.
US President Donald Trump has publicly criticized a reported contract worth more than $50 million with his former personal attorney, Alina Habba Mildon, calling the arrangement “obnoxious,” “outrageous,” and “not acceptable.”
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, Trump said he had told Habba Mildon that he did not want her to receive the money.
“I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it’s not acceptable. Not acceptable at all,” Trump said, adding that he considered the episode “terrible.”
The controversy follows a New York Times report that the family of Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini guaranteed Habba Mildon more than $50 million over four years through a company called Concord Partners.
The report says the arrangement included an annual payment of $10 million, along with additional bonuses.
The agreement was reportedly signed in late October 2025, when Habba Mildon was serving as acting US attorney for New Jersey. Concord Partners had been registered just days earlier as a company linked to Herrera’s family.
The timing drew particular attention because Herrera Velutini faced US felony bribery charges before reaching a plea agreement in August 2025.
Habba Mildon resigned as acting US attorney on December 8, 2025, and was appointed senior adviser to the attorney general the same day. She reportedly began working for Concord Partners on January 1, 2026.
A court had disqualified her from serving as a U.S. attorney by the time she began working for the company, according to published reports.
Pardon controversy adds another dimension
The financial arrangement has drawn further scrutiny because Trump pardoned Herrera Velutini on January 15, 2026, just weeks after Habba Mildon reportedly began working for the family-linked company.
Herrera faced allegations in 2022 of attempting to bribe the governor of Puerto Rico. He later reached a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance violation.
The reported financial agreement has raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the contract and the subsequent presidential pardon. However, the contract alone does not establish that Habba Mildon secured or influenced the pardon.
Habba Mildon has rejected any suggestion that her compensation was connected to the presidential pardon. Last week, she said she was never paid for a pardon, never met anyone at the White House or Justice Department about securing one, and performed no work to obtain a pardon for anyone.
Trump’s latest remarks add an unusual public dimension to the controversy, as the president has openly criticized a former personal lawyer over a lucrative private-sector arrangement.
The US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
The episode is likely to keep attention focused on the relationship between political influence, private financial arrangements and the standards expected of officials serving in the US Justice Department.
