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Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Trump say Umar Kremlev paid for post-wedding celebrations
The couple said the Russian businessman hosted two nights of events in the Bahamas as a wedding gift. Donald Trump said it was not the wedding itself but an afterparty and dismissed the matter.
Donald Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Trump, said that Umar Kremlev, a Russian businessman with ties to Vladimir Putin, paid for the celebrations held after their wedding in May.
ProPublica reported that Kremlev covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for the newlyweds and dozens of guests on a private island in the Bahamas. That reportedly included a fireworks display as part of the festivities.
In an Instagram post signed by both of them, Bettina Trump said Kremlev very generously hosted two nights of celebrations after the wedding and described it as a gift from a friend. In another explanation on Instagram, she said the island trip, which included other members of the Trump family, had been planned in advance as a weekend with friends, and that after their original wedding plans changed, they decided to marry before it and arrive as newlyweds.
She also argued there was nothing improper about Kremlev’s role and said friendship and generosity should not automatically be treated as political or suspicious.
Donald Trump, who did not attend either the wedding or the later celebration, told NBC News that he did not know who Umar was, had never heard of him, and that he did not pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding. The president said it was an afterparty held on a different day and at a different location, and downplayed the episode.
Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, asked on X what Kremlev received in return. He also noted that the businessman has been sanctioned by the Ukrainian government.
It is unclear how long Kremlev and Trump Jr. have known each other. The two appeared together last September at an International Boxing Association event in Turkey. At that event, Trump Jr. said he was proud to call Kremlev a friend, while the IBA official said they were joining forces to protect transparency in boxing and support the next generation.
Kremlev has led the International Boxing Association since 2020. According to the organization’s website, Putin presented him in late April with the Order of Friendship for his contribution to international sport. NBC News also cited Chinese state media saying that shortly before the wedding, Kremlev joined a Russian delegation traveling with Putin to Beijing for talks about the future of boxing in China.
NBC News also noted that Trump Jr. was scrutinized during his father’s first term over a 2016 meeting with people tied to the Kremlin, an episode reviewed by then-special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller’s report said the meeting did not produce useful information for the campaign and did not lead to charges in that part of the investigation.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
