Statement called Kremlev’s contribution an ‘extraordinarily generous wedding gift’
The couple’s Instagram statement, attributed to both Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Trump, described Kremlev’s contribution as a wedding gift. “Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding. It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful,” the couple said, according to the BBC. An ally of Trump Jr. referred the BBC to the Instagram post.
The statement was released Monday after ProPublica published a story detailing that Kremlev paid “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for the celebration. According to ProPublica, the couple was married on a private island in the Bahamas and held a two-day celebration on a separate island that rents for approximately $100,000 per night. Kremlev also paid other costs, including a roughly $70,000 fireworks display, the report found.
A spokesperson for Trump Jr. told ProPublica that Trump Jr. and Kremlev were personal friends and did not have “a business relationship.” In a statement to ProPublica, Kremlev’s office said “Mr. Kremlev and Mr. Trump Jr have a friendly relationship” and that the men met a few years ago. ProPublica reported that Kremlev attended part of the wedding; other attendees included the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who has worked for the U.S. on diplomatic negotiations with Iran, Russia and in the Middle East.
Ethics watchdog groups said the arrangement presented the appearance of a conflict of interest for the president’s eldest son to accept lavish gifts from someone associated with a foreign head of state, even if he is not a U.S. government employee. “People don’t just give hundreds of thousands of dollars to a random acquaintance without wanting something,” said Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “You can see how [Putin] would enjoy all this press about how people in his circle are cozying up to people in the president’s circle.”
Libowitz added that either the president, who is a billionaire, or Trump Jr. — whose net worth Forbes estimates at $300 million — could have paid for the full wedding to avoid conflict-of-interest concerns. “His father is worth billions he could have picked up the tab. Clearly they just didn’t want to pay for it,” Libowitz said. “They don’t really care about the ethical ramifications.”
Kremlev runs the International Boxing Association, an organization funded by state-backed Russian energy company Gazprom. The Olympic Committee suspended IBA in part over its failure to report its ties to the Russian energy giant. Earlier in 2026, Kremlev was part of a delegation that visited China with Putin, and the Russian president gave Kremlev the Order of Friendship, a top state honor, according to ProPublica.
The Trump campaign and family faced controversy over potential ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential election, resulting in a special counsel investigation. During that campaign, Donald Trump Jr. brokered a meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian operative that was closely scrutinized during the probe, the BBC reported.