Trump Jr. says Putin ally funded Bahamas wedding festivities

Donald Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Trump, acknowledged Monday that a Russian oligarch with ties to President Vladimir Putin helped pay for lavish post-wedding festivities on a private island in the Bahamas, calling the celebration “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend.”

The statement came after ProPublica reported that Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for the couple and dozens of guests during celebrations that followed their May wedding. The festivities included a fireworks display that cost roughly $70,000, according to ProPublica, and were held on an island that rents for about $100,000 per night.

“Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding,” the couple said in a post on Bettina Trump’s Instagram account, signed “Don & Bettina.” “It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful.”

Bettina Trump said the island gathering had “been planned well in advance as a fun weekend with friends” and was not originally intended to be connected to their wedding. “When our original wedding plans changed, we simply decided to get married before it and arrived at an already planned weekend as newlyweds,” she wrote.

She rejected suggestions that Kremlev’s involvement had political significance. “It’s unfortunate that something so personal and happy can be recast as something political or sinister simply because of who someone is or where they come from,” she wrote. “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.”

Donald Trump Jr. is a private citizen, and the BBC reported that it is not illegal for him to accept gifts from a foreign national. Ethics watchdogs, however, said the arrangement raised concerns because Kremlev is close to Putin.

“People don’t just give hundreds of thousands of dollars to a random acquaintance without wanting something,” Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the BBC. “You can see how [Putin] would enjoy all this press about how people in his circle are cozying up to people in the president’s circle.”

President Donald Trump, who did not attend the wedding or the celebration, told NBC News in a statement that it was “not a big deal.”

“I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding,” Trump said. “It was an ‘afterparty’ given in their honor. Not a big deal! I was not present at the party.”

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, wrote on X that Kremlev, who has been sanctioned by Ukraine, “spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the President’s son. What did he get in return? We need answers.”

Kremlev became head of the International Boxing Association in 2020. The association’s website says Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship in late April for his “contribution to international sport and his commitment to the global boxing family.” The BBC reported that the IBA has been funded by the state-backed Gazprom energy company and that the Olympic Committee suspended the group in part over its failure to report ties to Gazprom.

Kremlev and Trump Jr. appeared at an IBA event in Turkey last September. “I am proud to call Umar not only a leader but a friend,” Trump Jr. said at the time. Kremlev said they were “joining forces” and that “together, we will protect the transparency of boxing and open the door for the next generation,” without elaborating.

Kremlev’s office told ProPublica that “Mr. Kremlev and Mr. Trump Jr have a friendly relationship” and said the men met a few years ago. A spokesperson for Trump Jr. told ProPublica the two were personal friends and did not have “a business relationship.”