President Trump erupted last week after he learned that one of his former lawyers, Alina Habba Mildon, secured a contract worth more than $50 million to work for a billionaire Venezuelan family.
Angered at the size of Mrs. Mildon’s deal, Mr. Trump 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.
His fury came in response to reporting by The New York Times that Mrs. Mildon, while working as an adviser at the Justice Department, had signed on last year to serve as an extraordinarily well compensated general counsel for a company started by the daughter of Julio Herrera Velutini, who at the time was seeking a pardon from Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump told at least one ally that the Herrera family should not pay out the rest of the contract, a message that got back to them, the people said.
Mrs. Mildon, who had served earlier as a personal lawyer to Mr. Trump and then briefly as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, signed a four-year contract, and it is unclear whether the family could terminate it early. Mr. Trump also called Mrs. Mildon to discuss the contract, but it is not known whether he explicitly asked her to make a donation or only suggested it to others.
Mrs. Mildon did not respond to questions about her conversation with Mr. Trump or whether she had committed any money to the library or other Trump-related causes. The Herrera family also did not respond to requests for comment about whether they plan to make any changes to Mrs. Mildon’s employment.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about Mr. Trump’s calls.
The contract calls for the Herrera family to pay Mrs. Mildon $10 million a year for four years along with a variety of bonuses. In total, including bonuses, she was guaranteed more than $50 million over four years, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Times.
Mrs. Mildon formally began her work for the family on Jan. 1. Weeks later, Mr. Trump granted Mr. Herrera a full and unconditional pardon for his misdemeanor campaign finance violation. Mr. Herrera had faced felony bribery charges but struck an unusually lenient plea deal in 2025. Mrs. Mildon previously said she played no role in Mr. Herrera’s pardon.
The company that hired Mrs. Mildon, Concord Partners, has no public profile, and its business remains unclear even to some people associated with the Herrera business empire.
In calls with allies last week, Mr. Trump raged about the scale of the contract and said he wanted Mrs. Mildon to give a portion of the money to one of his causes.
