Alina Habba's Lavish Birthday Party Draws Scrutiny

Donald Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, is being criticized for jetting off to St. Barts in the Caribbean to celebrate her 40th birthday, and there are even comments that she used Trump donations to do so.

Save America—the political action committee that has paid for the Republican's legal bills—has spent $5.34 million on Habba's law firm, Habba Madaoi & Associates LLP.

Habba has become a prominent part of Trump's legal team and over the weekend she took a break from defending the former president.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in February that Trump must pay $355 million for committing fraud. The court held that Trump and top executives at The Trump Organization committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers. With interest, the full payment was $464 million but a state appeals court ruled he could post a drastically reduced bond of $175 million.

The GOP nominee has struggled to raise funds for his bond but has stepped up his efforts, launching a joint fundraising committee with the Republican National Committee (RNC) to drum up cash.

However, Trump critics have insinuated that Habba is using Trump donations for personal spending.

Newsweek emailed Habba via her law firm for comment on Thursday.

People on X (formerly Twitter) shared a screenshot of a Daily Mail article detailing Habba's 40th birthday celebrations—and they're not impressed.

"This is what donations to the Trump Campaign and now the RNC go towards—the insanely extravagant lifestyle of a lawyer hired for her looks that loses every case.....but it's fine because the campaign and RNC pay for those losses too! What a waste," one person posted.

"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. MAGA! This is what your donations are paying for. She deserves it though, considering she loses every case. That can be stressful," said Ron Filipkowski, a vocal Trump critic and editor-in-chief at the Meidas Touch.

The Meidas Touch X account reposted Filipkowski's post and added: "Keep donating your hard earned money, Republicans! Maybe Alina can hit the Maldives next."

These comments are purely speculation and there is no proof that this is the case at the time of writing.

When asked to comment on the tweets, Trump's campaign communications director, Steven Cheung, told Newsweek in a statement: "Sounds like these guys still live in their parents' basement."

Habba's friend, the TV personality Siggy Flicker, shared a glimpse into the 40th birthday celebrations on her Instagram account.

"There are no words in the English vocabulary to describe our trip to St. Barths ... so just try to imagine the most unbelievable place on earth where love is the air 24/7 & everything is driven by incredible MUSIC & FOOD!!!" she captioned multiple carousels of images taken during the trip.

"There is so much darkness right now in the world that has affected every single person no matter where you live that breaking away to celebrate a true patriot, a fighter of this country, a fighter for the constitution and a fighter for the greatest president in history of America..DJT was much needed & an AMAZING experience that will never be forgotten.

"Alina & Gregg—thank you from the bottom of all our hearts for taking all of us away for the greatest birthday celebration I have ever experienced!"

A new Trump fundraiser is set to spend donations on his campaign and Save America.

The Associated Press reported it obtained a fundraising invitation outlining the arrangement on Friday, claiming Trump invited donors to Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6.

The outlet reports that the invitation's fine print says donations to the former president's new committee will first be used to give the maximum amount allowed under federal law to his campaign and that anything else will go towards Save America and then to the RNC and then to state political parties.

Newsweek has not obtained a copy of this invitation to verify it.

Cheung added in his statement to Newsweek: "Save America also covers a very active and robust post-presidency office and other various expenses not related to fighting the illegal witch hunts perpetrated by Crooked Joe Biden.

"The Trump campaign, the RNC, and state GOP parties ultimately receive the overwhelming majority of funds raised through the Trump 47 Committee. Out of an Individual donor's maximum contribution of $824,600, less than 1% (.006%) goes to Save America."