Trump Calls Ex-Lawyer's $50m Deal with Pardoned Banker's Family 'Not Acceptable'

US President Donald Trump has criticised one of his former lawyers, Alina Habba Mildon, for signing a contract worth more than $50 million with the family of a Venezuelan banker whom Trump later pardoned. She reportedly signed the lucrative deal while working as a federal prosecutor and later began working for the banker's family while still employed as an adviser to the US Department of Justice.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Saturday, Trump said: “I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it's not acceptable.” He said he had told Habba Mildon he did not want her to be paid, describing the situation as “terrible”.

According to The New York Times, Habba Mildon signed a four-year contract in October 2025 with a company owned by the family of Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan banker who was seeking a presidential pardon. Herrera was accused of bribing former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced in exchange for removing a financial regulator who was investigating his bank. He was facing federal bribery charges in the US before reaching a plea deal with prosecutors in August 2025.

The contract guaranteed Habba Mildon more than $50 million over four years, including an annual salary of $10 million and bonuses. When she signed the deal, she was the acting US attorney for New Jersey, a position Trump had appointed her to after she worked as his personal lawyer.

She left that position in December after a court ruled she could not legally serve in the role, and then immediately took another job at the Justice Department as a senior adviser to the attorney general. On January 1, Habba Mildon officially began working for the banker's family while still employed by the Justice Department. Two weeks later, on January 15, Trump granted Herrera a full presidential pardon.

The arrangement has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest, given Habba Mildon's government position and her ties to Trump. The New York Times reported that the company that hired her, Concord Partners, has no public profile and its business activities remain unclear. Habba Mildon has denied having any role in securing Herrera's pardon; last week she said 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 anyone.

Trump was reportedly furious when he learned about the size of her contract. The New York Times reported that he told aides and allies that Habba Mildon should donate some of the money to his future presidential library or another Trump-related organisation, and told at least one ally that Herrera's family should stop paying her the remainder of the contract. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.