ProPublica documents three-day Trump Jr. wedding across two islands
The ProPublica investigation, published Monday, documented that Kremlev covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses across two of the three nights of Trump Jr.’s three-day Bahamas wedding, which unfolded May 22–24 across two separate private islands.
The couple exchanged vows on Friday, May 22, on a private island in the Bahamas. The Saturday, May 23, event, which Kremlev paid for, was held on the same island as the ceremony. (“Night 2. One Love!” Bettina Trump posted about the Saturday festivities on Instagram.) The Sunday reception was held a roughly 10-minute boat ride away on a neighboring private island rented by Kremlev.
At Sunday’s reception, the couple had their first dance, with Bettina Trump wearing her wedding dress, and ate a five-tier wedding cake topped with a miniature bride and groom.
ProPublica reported the wedding guest list numbered around 50, including Jared Kushner and other members of the Trump family. Kremlev, who ProPublica reported first met Trump Jr. recently, attended the wedding with a large group of other Russians. According to ProPublica, the wedding payments came from an IBA-affiliated entity in Dubai that the boxing association uses for financial transactions.
After ProPublica’s story was published, Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Trump, released a joint statement confirming Kremlev’s role. “Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us,” they said in a statement published on her Instagram account. “It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful.” They added, “Friendship doesn’t require a political motive.” The couple drew a distinction between the ceremony itself, which they said was just family, and the rest of the wedding weekend.
In a separate statement released by the White House, President Donald Trump echoed that framing. “I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding,” Trump said. “It was an ‘afterparty’ given in their honor. Not a big deal!”
The couple’s wedding planner, Lewis Miller, described the design of the three-day affair to Hello! magazine. “She wanted a progression,” Miller said. “The ceremony was very serene and pretty and soft, and the dinner was very elegant, and then the next night was much more colorful, and then the last night was more kind of cool and fun tropical vibes.”
Kremlev is close to Putin and heads the International Boxing Association, a scandal-plagued sports group that ProPublica reported has been financed by Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. Kremlev’s press office previously told ProPublica that he and Trump Jr. “have a friendly relationship” and that they don’t talk politics.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, opened a formal investigation the same day, sending two letters — one to the White House and one to Trump Jr. — requesting records of Trump Jr.’s communications with Kremlev and “financial records of all purchases made for your wedding by foreign nationals.” In the letters, Garcia wrote that “the secretive, close relationship between the son of a sitting U.S. President and a member of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s inner circle raises serious national security and public corruption concerns.” Garcia told Trump Jr. it “may be the most serious allegation against you to date.”
Trump Jr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Garcia’s investigation.