It still feels bizarre to unironically compare a U.S. president with the head of an organized crime ring. Yet President Donald Trump has transformed the White House into the command hub for unparalleled corruption and self-enrichment. He has grown immensely wealthier since retaking office last year — but still gets upset when the (metaphorical) capos and soldiers under him do the same without paying the tribute he believes he’s owed.
Alina Habba Mildon, a former personal lawyer for Trump, is the latest to draw the president’s ire for profiting off her place in his orbit. Mildon, who also briefly served as the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, reportedly signed a $50 million contract last year to serve as general counsel for a billionaire Venezuelan family. The New York Times reported Thursday that the president “has told aides and allies that she should donate a portion of that money to his future presidential library or another Trump-related entity, according to multiple people briefed on the conversations.”
The quasi-voluntary donations mark a shift in the relationship that Trump and his supplicants have held.
Trump’s jealousy over money that he feels was unfairly earned on his coattails is legendary. Brad Parscale, Trump’s digital strategist in 2016 and campaign manager in 2020, raked in millions via his strategy company’s contracts with Trump-affiliated groups. “That’s my money!” Trump reportedly exclaimed after learning about the high-spending lifestyle Parscale had cultivated. (Parscale was demoted in July 2020 and then stepped down entirely before Election Day.)
Earlier this month, 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita and adviser James Blair took heat for their political work in Republika Srpska, a Balkan territory whose nationalist government is aligned with Russia. This side hustle taking their focus off the U.S. midterms was bad enough, but the hundreds of thousands of dollars they each reportedly earned certainly didn’t help matters. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ daughter also did contract work for the Serbian enclave inside Bosnia and Herzegovina, something Wiles’ enemies have reportedly been happy to remind Trump when currying his favor.
Trump threatened to cut LaCivita and Blair off entirely but allowed them back into his good graces through an act of, as the president put it to reporters last week, “charity.” The two men donated the money they made consulting in Republika Srpska to the Trump presidential library, posting in gushing terms on social media how happy they were to do so. While the Times made clear Thursday that “it is not known whether [Trump] explicitly asked [Mildon] to make a donation or only suggested it to others,” it seems as though the tactic pleased him enough to want a repeat.
The quasi-voluntary donations mark a shift in the relationship that Trump and his supplicants have held. For years, would-be influence buyers have funneled money into Mar-a-Lago memberships and booked meetings at Trump properties, lining his pockets in exchange for potential access. Most of the money Trump has made this term is through questionable crypto deals, and he has repeatedly offered the chance to win a dinner with him to those who purchase the useless currency.
Trump has also used private donations to federal projects as a pathway to get on his good side. Earlier this month, The Washington Post revealed the donors behind the $330 million in funds for Trump’s White House ballroom project. The list had previously been kept under tight wraps thanks to contract provisions guaranteeing anonymity for those who wished to provide their cash in secret. The Post emphasized that its reporting did not “establish a connection between the donation commitments and favorable actions by the Trump administration” but did “show that the vast majority of the funds raised came from companies and wealthy individuals with interests before the federal government.”
But at least in the other examples many of those opening their wallets to Trump this term hoped to gain something tangible in the future. Call it a quid amateur quo — while a wish may not expressly be stated, the hope is still there for some kind of reward. It seems now that being removed from Trump’s potential enemies list is enough of a prize to be worth writing a check.
It seems now that being removed from Trump’s potential enemies list is enough of a prize to be worth writing a check.
The money flowing to his presidential library instead of his businesses or personal bank account makes it no less of a racket. There still have been no good answers as to where millions of dollars pledged to the library went after the initial fund was dissolved last year. A second nonprofit group established in December said it has collected $50 million in contributions for Trump’s library, less than the roughly $63 million that was previously pledged. Several of those millions had come from media outlets and social media companies who’d agreed to donate the money to settle lawsuits Trump brought in a personal capacity.
A sitting president even considering a tithe of this nature from a former staffer necessary is shocking, but it fits perfectly into Trump’s zero sum understanding of the world. If someone else is benefiting from being near him, he is losing out. And after all, Trump’s personal brand is the thing he’s cherished the most over the years — and licensing some of that clout requires him receiving a share of the gains. The alternative is risking Trump harnessing the full power of his office to collect what he sees as his due.
The post Alina Habba got a big payday. Now Trump wants his cut. appeared first on MS NOW.
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