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Kremlin-Connected Oligarch May Have Partly Funded Donald Trump Jr. Bahamas Wedding
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A secret benefactor reportedly partially funded the late May wedding of Donald Trump Jr. in the Bahamas, according to an investigation by ProPublica.
Documents and interviewees revealed that Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, helped cover expenses for the event.
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Investigators say that Kremlev financed the rental of a private island where guests stayed and where the reception took place. He also paid for a fireworks display, while his team assisted with wedding planning.
The guest list included around 50 people, among them Donald Trump Jr.’s brother Eric Trump, brother-in-law Jared Kushner, Kremlev himself, and several other Russian nationals.
Chinese state media reported that Kremlev visited China as part of Putin’s official delegation just days prior to the wedding. Before that trip, Putin presented him with the Order of Friendship state award. Kremlev leads the International Boxing Association (IBA), a sports organization funded by Russian state company Gazprom.
Payments for the wedding were made through a Dubai-based entity connected to the IBA, which the boxing body uses for financial operations. ProPublica noted that the reasons behind Kremlev’s financial support remain unclear.
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Public records show Donald Trump Jr. had the financial means to fund the wedding himself, with Forbes recently estimating his net worth at roughly $300 million.
A spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. stated that Kremlev is a friend of his and that the two met through a mutual hunting acquaintance. Donald Trump Jr. married Bettina Anderson on a private island that previously served as a filming location for Pirates of the Caribbean and the James Bond film Casino Royale.
The couple held their first dance on a second nearby private island, which costs about $100,000 per night to rent—an expense covered by Kremlev, according to ProPublica. The fireworks display arranged for the event was supplied by a company that charges roughly $70,000 for similar shows.
In mid-August the bloc was preparing its largest sanctions effort to date, aiming to enlarge the blacklist by roughly a third and push the total number of listed individuals, companies, and organizations close to 3,000.
European restrictions were estimated by then to have cost Russia more than $1.08 trillion, while the package enacted on July 23 designated 170 entities and 48 individuals, including major banks, cryptocurrency networks, and shadow-fleet vessels.
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