A Russian oligarch financed significant parts of Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding weekend in the Bahamas, his wife confirmed on social media Monday while attempting to brush off concerns about any conflicts of interest the arrangement raised.
“It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful,” Bettina Anderson posted on Instagram. “Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift.”
Trump Jr. married Anderson, a Palm Beach socialite, during a lavish three-day affair at a pair of private islands, with guests put up in oceanfront villas.
But ProPublica reported early Monday morning that Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch with documented ties to President Vladimir Putin, put hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the wedding weekend.
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Kremlev rented out a private island, put on a firework show and even had his team help plan the festivities for the president’s son and now daughter in-law, according to the investigative publication.
Anderson asserted that the multiday celebration was “never intended” to be their wedding weekend, and they only decided to get married that Friday because their plans changed. It’s unclear why the distinction would alleviate the conflict of interest concerns raised by the arrangement with Kremlev.
President Donald Trump notably did not attend the festivities.
A spokesperson for Trump Jr. did not dispute the wedding payments in a statement to ProPublica, though they claimed that Kremlev is “not someone he [Trump Jr.] has a business relationship with.”
The intimate guest list of around 50 people included Trump Jr.’s brother-in-law Jared Kushner, his brother Eric Trump and a comparatively large group of Russian guests, whose presence perplexed the other attendees, ProPublica reported.
Despite the limited invite list, Eric Trump’s spokesperson told ProPublica he has absolutely “no clue who this person is, nor has never heard his name” when asked about Kremlev.
Trump Jr. had emphasized the private nature and small guest list for the weekend several times on his podcast, saying it was just “really close friends” and “if you’re on that list, you weren’t talking.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida), who has campaigned with Trump Jr. and appeared on his podcast, jumped to the couple’s defense on Monday, calling the reports “gross attacks.”
“To be clear, these attacks come only a few days after the attacks on @jaredkushner regarding the peace negotiations. The fact is that this administration is actively pursuing a peace deal with Russia and Ukraine, and there are MANY people who DON’T WANT this deal to happen. So, they are now resorting to attacking @POTUS’ children,” Luna wrote Monday on X.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is demanding answers about potential conflicts of interest related to the wedding weekend. “Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the President’s son. What did he get in return? We need answers,” Garcia wrote on X.
Kremlev is the head of the once Russian-state financed International Boxing Association and was reportedly part of the delegation that accompanied Russian President Vladimir Putin to China just days before the wedding weekend — though a representative for Kremlev told Propublica that he was not a part of Putin’s “official delegation” on the trip.
Kremlev’s press office calls him a businessman and philanthropist and said he “has never discussed political matters with any of his American friends and acquaintances,” including the president’s son.
Kremlev is currently sanctioned by the Ukrainian government over his ties to Putin, specifically because he is “close friend of the head of Putin’s security service.” Ukraine also called out Kremlev for his advocacy for Russian athletes who have been barred from international competitions and noted that he had received a medal by Putin’s decree in 2020 for “his great contribution to the development of physical culture and sports.”
The hundreds of thousands of dollars in wedding payments came from IB Challenger, an entity linked to the boxing association that Kremlev set up in Dubai as Europe became more hostile to Russian businesses.
When asked if Kremlev’s documented ties to Putin raised any concerns, the White House sent The Washington Sun the link to Anderson’s Instagram post.
“We are fortunate to have wonderful friends from all over the world, and we will never be embarrassed or apologetic about being grateful for them,” Anderson wrote in her Instagram post.
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