DR CONGO · UNITED STATES · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The money A wire of US$17.6 million sent in May 2025 to TX-AT, a Texas security and defence company. People familiar with a White House review trace it to a bank account linked to the Congolese government.
- —The feud Alina Habba, a former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, accuses Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who ran the Kennedy Center, of diverting part of the money. Grenell denies it.
- —The Congo link Habba’s husband, Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, builds major state projects in Kinshasa through his company Milvest and calls himself an adviser to President Félix Tshisekedi.
- —The records The Justice Department’s public register of agents for foreign governments lists no filing for Mildon, Milvest, TX-AT, Grenell or Habba. No court case over the money has surfaced.
- —Why it matters Money traced to a foreign government account sits at the centre of a dispute between two figures close to the president over an alleged Kennedy Center donation.
- —Still open Which Congolese institution paid, what the payment was for, and where the money went after it reached Texas.
A feud between two allies of President Donald Trump over US$17.6 million has pulled DR Congo into a Washington controversy. People familiar with a White House review say the money, wired in May 2025 to a Texas security and defence company, came from a bank account linked to the Congolese government.
For American readers, the case raises a simple question that nobody has yet answered in public: why would money from a Congolese state account flow through a US defence firm, and did any of it touch the Kennedy Center? The Congolese government has not commented, and no court filing or foreign agent registration has emerged.
A Dispute Between Two Trump Allies
Alina Habba, who now also uses her married name Mildon, took her accusations to the White House, The New York Times reported on 15 October. She told officials that her husband made the payment at the direction of Richard Grenell, a longtime Trump ally who has served as a special presidential envoy and ran the Kennedy Center, Washington’s national performing arts centre, at the time.
Habba said her husband believed US$5.6 million would go to the Kennedy Center, but that the money never reached it, according to The Daily Beast’s account of the reporting. Her account reportedly shifted over time, and she later described most of the payment as part of a business deal whose details remain unclear.
Grenell rejects the claims, calling them “absurd” and writing on X that “I’ve never received any payment from him at all.” He has acknowledged consulting for TX-AT in 2024 but says he had no tie to the company when the money was sent.
The Congo Connection
The Congo angle surfaced on 17 October, when new reporting said the transfer came from a Congolese government-linked account rather than from Mildon himself. The first documents sent to the White House on the couple’s behalf had blacked out the name of the sender, the reporting added.
Mildon has acknowledged through a spokesman that he advises President Félix Tshisekedi of DR Congo and holds a Congolese diplomatic passport, according to the US news sites Mediaite and Raw Story. Congolese authorities have not publicly confirmed either claim.
His company Milvest is the builder behind some of Kinshasa’s biggest state projects. Tshisekedi inaugurated its Kinshasa Financial Centre, a complex of ministry buildings and offices in the Gombe district, on 19 December 2023, the business site Financial Afrik reported at the time.
Congo’s foreign ministry and TX-AT did not respond to requests for comment, the Congolese site Netic-News reported. By Monday morning, The Rio Times had found no public statement on the transfer from the presidency, the government spokesman or the foreign ministry in Kinshasa.
In Rwanda, which is at odds with Kinshasa over the war in eastern Congo, the news site Taarifa ran the story on 18 October under a headline saying it draws “Tshisekedi’s circle” into “Washington’s political storm.” Nothing in the public reporting so far shows that Tshisekedi or his aides ordered or knew of the transfer, and the Taarifa article itself sits behind a paywall.
What the Records Show
The Rio Times searched the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act database, which lists people registered to do political, lobbying or publicity work in the United States for foreign governments and other foreign clients. It contains no registration in the names of Mildon, Milvest, TX-AT, Grenell or Habba, for Congo or any other country.
The same database shows that the Congolese state does hire American lobbyists, with several registrations for the Kinshasa government filed in 2025 and 2026. None of them mentions any of the people in this dispute.
The Kennedy Center is examining the relevant pledges and funds and will share its findings with its board, The Daily Beast reported. Nothing published so far shows that the US$17.6 million was diverted, and the original reporting itself stressed that Habba’s accusations had not been verified.
What It Means for US Readers
US law generally requires anyone acting in the United States as an agent of a foreign government, for example by lobbying US officials or by collecting or handing out money in its interest, to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Whether any of that applies here depends on what the payment was for, which none of the parties has explained.
The case comes as Congo, the world’s leading cobalt producer, seeks closer economic ties with Washington, including through the US-brokered Washington Accords of December 2025. For US companies and investors in Congo, it is a reminder that business with the state there can draw scrutiny at home.
What Is Not Known
It is not known which Congolese institution sent the money, who authorised it, or what TX-AT supplied or was meant to supply in return. It is also unclear how much, if any, of the sum was meant for the Kennedy Center.
The scope of the White House review and the officials running it have not been made public. No government in Washington or Kinshasa has said whether any law was broken.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the US$17.6 million dispute about?
Alina Habba accuses Richard Grenell of diverting part of a US$17.6 million payment sent in May 2025 to TX-AT, a Texas security company. Grenell denies receiving any money and calls the claims absurd.
How is DR Congo involved?
People familiar with a White House review say the money came from a bank account linked to the Congolese government. Habba’s husband, Turhan Mildon, builds state projects in Kinshasa and says he advises President Félix Tshisekedi.
Who is Turhan Mildon?
He is a Turkish businessman whose company Milvest built the Kinshasa Financial Centre, inaugurated by Tshisekedi in December 2023. He says he holds a Congolese diplomatic passport, which Kinshasa has not publicly confirmed.
Is anyone registered as a foreign agent for Congo in this case?
No registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act exists for Mildon, Milvest, TX-AT, Grenell or Habba. Congo does have other registered lobbyists in the United States.
Has the Congolese government responded?
Not publicly. Its foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment, and no statement had appeared by Monday morning.
Sources: US Justice Department, FARA foreign principals and registrants data, retrieved 19 October 2026, US Justice Department, FARA frequently asked questions, The Daily Beast, 16 October 2026, Mediaite, 17 October 2026, Netic-News, 17 October 2026, Raw Story, 17 October 2026, Taarifa, 18 October 2026 (headline; article paywalled), Financial Afrik, Kinshasa Financial Centre inaugurated, 21 December 2023, Foot RDC, portrait of Turhan Mildon and Milvest. The original reporting is by The New York Times, 15 and 17 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief