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US President Donald Trump has publicly condemned his former personal lawyer Alina Habba Mildon for signing a contract worth more than $50 million with the family of a Venezuelan banker whom he subsequently pardoned, calling the arrangement “totally obnoxious and outrageous” and “not acceptable.”
Trump made the remarks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Saturday, saying he had told Habba Mildon directly that he did not want her to be paid and describing the situation as “terrible.”
The contract and the timeline
According to reporting by The New York Times, Habba Mildon signed a four-year contract in October 2025 with Concord Partners, a company owned by the family of Julio Herrera Velutini. The deal guaranteed her more than $50 million over four years, including an annual salary of $10 million and additional bonuses. Concord Partners has no public profile and its business activities remain unclear, the Times reported.
At the time she signed the contract, Habba Mildon was serving as the acting US attorney for New Jersey — a position Trump had appointed her to after she worked as his personal lawyer. She left that role in December after a court ruled she could not legally hold it. She then took a position as a senior adviser to the attorney general at the Justice Department.
On 1 January, Habba Mildon officially began working for Herrera’s family while still employed by the Justice Department. Two weeks later, on 15 January, Trump granted Herrera a full presidential pardon.
The underlying case
Herrera Velutini had been facing federal bribery charges in the United States. He was accused of bribing former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced in exchange for the removal of a financial regulator who was investigating his bank. He reached a plea deal with prosecutors in August 2025, before the pardon was issued.
Denials and reported presidential anger
Habba Mildon has denied playing any role in securing the pardon. Last week she stated she had never been paid to obtain a pardon, had never discussed one with anyone at the White House or the Justice Department, and had never worked to secure a pardon for any individual.
Trump was reportedly furious when he learned the scale of her contract. The New York Times reported that he told aides and allies that Habba Mildon should donate a portion of the money to his future presidential library or another Trump-related organisation. He also reportedly told at least one ally that Herrera’s family should stop paying her the remainder of the contract.
The arrangement has drawn scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest, given Habba Mildon’s concurrent government employment and her longstanding ties to Trump. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.