President Donald Trump’s new daughter-in-law, Bettina, unapologetically confirmed a report that a political ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin paid for a lavish weekend following her wedding to Donald Trump Jr.
ProPublica first reported Monday that the couple’s three-day wedding celebration in the Bahamas in May, described by the outlet as “Monte Carlo meets frat party,” was funded by Umar Kremlev.
“Apparently our wedding is making headlines again, so a little clarity seems in order,” Bettina Trump wrote in a statement shared on Instagram on Monday. In her post, she shared other pictures from the event, adding that “Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda.” Forbes last year estimated Trump Jr. had amassed a fortune of several hundred million dollars, driven in large part by his holdings in cryptocurrencies.
“When our original wedding plans changed, we simply decided to get married before it and arrived at an already planned weekend as newlyweds,” Bettina Trump wrote. “Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding.”
Kremlev, according to documents reviewed by ProPublica, paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses, including dancers, a five-tier funfetti cake flown in from Florida, fireworks and the rental of the private islands. The payments came via an entity affiliated with the Dubai-based International Boxing Association, which is headed by Kremlev and financially backed by Gazprom, a Russian state-owned energy corporation.
According to ProPublica, Kremlev’s spokesperson “said the boxing organization itself did not incur expenses for the wedding but did not comment on the payments from the Dubai entity.”
Kremlev’s press office did tell ProPublica that he has a “friendly relationship” with Trump Jr., whom he first met “a couple of years ago,” adding that “Mr. Kremlev has never discussed political matters with any of his American friends and acquaintances.” The IBA did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment about the payments from its affiliated entity.
Also in attendance at Trump Jr.’s wedding was his sister Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, who, despite having no formal position in the administration, has played a prominent role in U.S. negotiations with Russia over its ongoing war with Ukraine. The president skipped his son’s wedding, saying that “this is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller also investigated Trump Jr. for his possible connection to Russian interference in the 2016 election after he met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer in Trump Tower in June that year. Ultimately, Mueller found no evidence the Trump campaign colluded with Russia while drawing no conclusion about whether Trump Sr. obstructed justice.
Bettina Trump said of the report on Kremlev’s largesse that it is “unfortunate that something so personal and happy can be recast as something political or sinister.”
“And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift,” she wrote, adding that the couple is not “embarrassed or apologetic” for accepting the gift.
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