President Donald Trump has criticised a reported $50 million employment agreement involving his former personal lawyer, Alina Habba Mildon, describing the arrangement as unacceptable and saying he had made clear that he did not want her to receive such payments.
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, Trump reacted sharply to reports that Habba Mildon had secured a lucrative contract while holding a position within the US Department of Justice.
“I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it’s not acceptable,” Trump said, reiterating his opposition to the deal.
The controversy centres on a report that the family of Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini had guaranteed Habba Mildon more than $50 million over a four-year period. The proposed arrangement reportedly included an annual payment of $10 million, along with additional bonuses.
Herrera Velutini had faced federal bribery charges in the United States before reaching a plea agreement in August 2025.
According to the report, Habba Mildon signed the contract with Concord Partners, a company linked to Herrera’s family, shortly after the firm was registered in late October 2025. At the time, she was serving as acting US attorney for New Jersey.
Her position within the federal prosecution system had already come under scrutiny. An appeals court subsequently disqualified her from serving as US attorney, leading to her resignation on December 8. She was appointed senior adviser to the attorney general on the same day.
The reported arrangement with Concord Partners began on January 1, while Habba Mildon was still serving in that advisory role.
The controversy has also drawn attention to Herrera Velutini’s subsequent pardon. Trump granted him a presidential pardon on January 15, 2026, according to the Justice Department’s website.
Habba Mildon has rejected any suggestion that her professional arrangement was connected to the pardon. She said last week that she had never received payment for a pardon, had not discussed one with anyone at the White House or Justice Department, and had not performed work to secure a pardon for any individual.
Trump, meanwhile, said he had told Habba Mildon that he did not want her to be paid, describing the episode as “terrible.”
The Justice Department had not issued an immediate response to a request for comment on the reported contract.
