Donald Trump Jr and his wife, Bettina, confirmed on Monday that a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin partially paid for the couple’s wedding celebrations in May, following a ProPublica report revealing Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the events. Trump Jr, the US president’s eldest child, married the Palm Beach socialite in a lavish three-day celebration across two exclusive private islands in May. Citing records and interviews with three anonymous sources familiar with the event, ProPublica reported that Kremlev, a member of the Russian president’s circle, footed the bill to rent one of the islands where a reception was held and where guests slept, along with other large expenses, including a huge firework show.
In a statement signed by the couple and shared on Bettina Trump’s Instagram after ProPublica’s report was published, they confirmed Kremlev’s contributions to the celebrations and characterized them as “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful”. A top Democrat demanded answers on the Trumps’ ties to Kremlev. What did he get in return?
We need answers.” Kremlev has a longstanding relationship with Putin. He is the head of the International Boxing Association (IBA), a sporting body that has been backed by the state-owned Russian energy company Gazprom. According to ProPublica, the wedding payments came from an IBA-affiliated entity in Dubai that the boxing association uses for financial transactions.
In the days before the wedding party, he reportedly went to China as part of a delegation accompanying Putin, and the month prior the Russian president had bestowed him with a state honor, the Order of Friendship. The Ukrainian government has imposed sanctions on Kremlev, citing his closeness to Putin and Russian security services. Alexander Lagutin, a businessperson who has held senior roles at a Russian defense contractor and a state-backed energy company, had been with Kremlev on the China trip.
Kremlev’s right hand at the IBA, Elena Sobol, attended the wedding, too. While the event was extravagant, the guest list was intimate, with only about 50 people attending, most of whom were immediate family, close friends and business partners of the couple. Then there was Kremlev, who reportedly didn’t attend the ceremony itself, which was limited to just 18 guests, but was present with a large contingent of Russians at the party, much to the confusion of the other guests.
The group reportedly sometimes stood off by themselves speaking Russian, according to ProPublica. The affair has raised questions about the implications of a member of Putin’s circle financially supporting and gaining such intimate access to the US president’s family. In recent years Trump Jr has emerged as a leading campaign surrogate for Trump and has even been touted as a potential political heir.
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