The gift would amount to several hundred thousand dollars. Donald Trump Jr. has pledged, according to his father, to reimburse expenses incurred by a Russian businessman linked to the Kremlin for festivities following his wedding.
“When I heard this story, I asked the question. And he said: ‘No, Dad, I’m paying it back,'” declared the American president, questioned by journalists in the Oval Office, while assuring that the donation in question was “authorized.”
Also readThe mysterious wedding gift from a relative of Putin to Donald Trump Junior
The investigative site ProPublica revealed last week that Umar Kremlev, a Russian businessman linked to the Kremlin, had paid several hundred thousand dollars to finance these receptions.
These expenses have raised questions about the risk of foreign influence around the presidential family.
“One of his friends threw him a wedding party. It’s very common, I’ve heard of a lot of people throwing wedding parties, I’ve thrown a lot of them myself,” Trump added. “As I understand it, he paid it back.”
Donald Trump Junior: a Russian-style marriage
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Cover image: Revelations about Russian financing of Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding © France 24
The US president’s eldest son and his wife, Bettina Trump, confirmed in a message posted on Instagram that their “dear friend” Umar Kremlev had “very generously offered two incredible evenings” of festivities in the Bahamas in May.
“This was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and we are deeply grateful,” they wrote.
Umar Kremlev heads the International Boxing Association (IBA), with which the International Olympic Committee broke away after multiple warnings over its financial governance and ethical issues.
According to a press release from the IBA, Vladimir Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship, an official Russian distinction, in April 2026. The text was accompanied by a photograph showing the two men shaking hands.
With AFP
