US President Donald Trump on Friday defended a Russian oligarch’s role in funding celebrations around his son Donald Trump Jr’s wedding in the Bahamas, saying the arrangement was “totally allowed” but that his son had told him he was paying the money back.Trump said he had previously asked his son about Umar Kremlev, a Russian businessman with close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, after learning about his involvement in the wedding festivities.“I asked about it. He said, ‘No, I’m paying him back, Dad,'” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “So I heard he’s paying him.”Trump also said, “I hear he paid them back,” without providing details on whether the repayment had already been completed.
What Trump says about the wedding money
ProPublica reported earlier that Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on expenses linked to the three-day Bahamas celebrations for Trump Jr and Bettina Anderson, including renting a private island and paying for a fireworks display. The report said the payments came through a Dubai-based entity affiliated with the International Boxing Association, which Kremlev heads.Trump defended the arrangement, saying it was common for friends to host wedding parties.“It’s totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all,” he said, adding that he had himself given wedding parties for other people.Kremlev’s involvement was subsequently confirmed by Bettina Trump in an Instagram post signed by the couple. She described him as a “dear friend” who had “very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding.”She also stressed that she and Trump Jr. had married in a private ceremony surrounded only by family.
Who is Umar Kremlev?
Kremlev, who heads the International Boxing Association, has been publicly associated with Putin and Russia’s political establishment. ProPublica reported that he accompanied Putin to China as part of a Russian delegation and that Putin had awarded him the Order of Friendship.The wedding revelations have drawn scrutiny because they involve a Russian businessman with Kremlin ties while Russia’s war in Ukraine remains ongoing.Trump did not attend his son’s Bahamas wedding, saying at the time that the timing was not suitable. He said Friday that he had nevertheless known about Kremlev’s involvement and had discussed it with his son.Trump’s comments came after the ProPublica report prompted fresh questions about the financial relationship between Kremlev and the president’s eldest son. ProPublica reported that the men described each other as friends, while Trump Jr.’s spokesperson said Kremlev was not someone he had a business relationship with.