This week, three reports have brought infighting among current and former Trump administration officials into public view.
The first report emerged Wednesday, when Axios reported President Donald Trump had directed White House counsel to examine allegations raised by former Trump attorney Alina Habba during a Friday Oval Office meeting.
Habba reportedly accused former Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell of failing to deposit a multimillion-dollar donation her billionaire husband had pledged to the center a year earlier.( RELATED: Trump Taps Katie Zacharia To Serve As Next White House Press Secretary)
The dispute reportedly centers on a nearly $6 million donation that Habba said her husband, Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, agreed to make to the Kennedy Center as part of a $17.6 million business deal in spring 2025, according to sources who spoke to Axios.
The report further alleges that Grenell developed a friendship with Mildon, whose Venezuelan business interests were threatened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, while Grenell advocated for normalizing relations with Venezuela.
Habba’s attorneys plan to provide the White House with documentation supporting the allegations, but a White House official told the outlet that counsel requested evidence and “none has come so far.”
According to Axios, Grenell denied the allegations, calling them “Absurd. I’ve never asked for one cent to be sent somewhere else pretending it was for the Kennedy Center, and I’ve never received any payment from him at all. Make him give proof of what he is saying, not make these absurd allegations.”
Habba initially told Trump the donation totaled $17 million before revising the figure to $5.6 million after discussing the details with her husband, according to Axios.
The report also alleged that Mildon never checked whether the money had been deposited because he believed the donation had been credited, having received VIP treatment at the Kennedy Center, where he met Habba in late 2025.
A separate report published Thursday detailed a months-long feud documented on email chains between Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Paolo Zampolli, a personal friend of Trump’s and a special envoy at the State Department, featuring accusations of unauthorized diplomacy, media leaks, and threats of disciplinary action, according to a Politico report.
The emails, which span nearly a year, reveal a deepening dispute over authority and the limits of Zampolli’s role at the State Department.
Landau repeatedly urged Zampolli to remain within his cultural diplomacy portfolio, at one point directing him to stop working on “ANY issues not directly tied to cultural diplomacy.”
In a separate email, Landau warned that pursuing matters outside his legal authority and against his directives “may expose you to disciplinary action, dismissal, and legal liability.” Zampolli denied allegations of potential illegality. (RELATED: Ric Grenell Bows Out From Kennedy Center)
Landau also accused Zampolli of being “committed to a path of insubordination” and said he was notifying the White House Presidential Personnel Office, though it was unclear whether he followed through. He separately dismissed Zampolli’s accusations as “bizarre, defamatory, and inappropriate for broad dissemination on email.”
The dispute extended across email chains that included as many as 16 administration officials and reached communications with a senior foreign official, offering a glimpse into sensitive State Department outreach over apparent breaches of diplomatic protocol.
In two phone interviews with the outlet, one lasting more than 45 minutes, Zampolli maintained his criticism of Landau, claiming he “has been attacking me from Day 1” and that “everything I did, he tried to destroy it.”
On Thursday, a State Department official confirmed that Zampolli had been fired from his role as U.S. special envoy, hours after the publication of the Politico article.
A third report published Thursday alleged that Trump has been asking friends for their opinions of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, according to Politico Playbook.
When asked by the Daily Caller whether he could confirm the reports or provide additional information about the Wiles and Landau disputes, former ambassador Grenell responded, “This is all news to me. I don’t know anything about it.”
The reports come as the administration heads into a consequential midterm election season, with Republicans fighting to retain control of Congress. Trump is traveling to Alaska, Arizona and Montana to campaign for GOP candidates as the party works to defend its congressional majorities.( RELATED: Trump Officials Aren’t Waiting On Congress To Speed Up Permits For Pipelines And Power Lines)
Meanwhile, former U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned Monday, hours after new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia announced that the administration had asked her to step down.
Guilfoyle faced scrutiny following reports that she asked Trump donor Eric Deters to wire $100,000 to her American Express account while offering wealthy donors access to Trump administration officials.
The transfer never occurred, and Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputes the allegations.
The public airing of disputes involving senior administration officials and questions surrounding Wiles’ standing inside the White House offer a window into the internal dynamics unfolding as the administration works to maintain Republican control of Congress.
The White House directed the Caller to comments President Trump and White House spokesperson Danielle Alvarez made to Politico.