A Putin-Decorated Russian Oligarch Paid for Two Nights of Don Jr.'s Wedding Celebration in the Bahamas, Including a $100,000-a-Night Private Island. Trump Says He's 'Never Heard of Him.'

A Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin secretly bankrolled a large part of Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding celebration in the Bahamas in May, according to an investigation published Monday by ProPublica, a finding the president's son and his wife confirmed within hours while insisting there was "NO CONSPIRACY, NO MYSTERY."

The benefactor was Umar Kremlev, the 43-year-old president of the International Boxing Association, who was born Umar Lutfulloyev and changed his surname in 2010. ProPublica reported that Kremlev rented a private island used for the reception and guest lodging at a cost of roughly $100,000 a night, paid about $70,000 for a fireworks display and lent his own team to help plan the event. The payments, the outlet said, flowed through IB Challenger, a Dubai-based entity connected to the boxing federation. The total ran to "hundreds of thousands of dollars." Trump Jr., whose net worth Forbes has estimated at around $300 million, could have covered the bill himself.

The three-day celebration for Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson took place May 24 across two private islands, following a private ceremony the previous week. Roughly 50 guests attended, among them Jared Kushner, Eric Trump and business associates from World Liberty Financial and 1789 Capital. President Trump was not there. A Russian contingent that included Kremlev, Alexander Lagutin and Elena Sobol was also present, ProPublica reported, but stood apart from the other guests, spoke Russian among themselves and appeared in none of the publicly released photos or videos. Days before the wedding, Kremlev had been in China as part of Putin's official delegation, and in May he received the Order of Friendship, a state honor, from the Russian president.

Kremlev's résumé is not that of a typical wedding guest. ProPublica reported that he has a criminal record for extortion and battery, which his office disputes; that he was a member of the Night Wolves biker gang and is connected to Alexei Rubezhnoi, the head of Putin's security detail; and that his boxing body is financed by tens of millions of dollars from the state-owned gas giant Gazprom. The International Olympic Committee stripped the IBA of its Olympic role in 2023, citing governance failures and its refusal to "transparently explain the sources of its financing." Ukraine has sanctioned Kremlev personally. In January 2025, he wrote an open letter to President Trump asking for an investigation of the IOC's decision and expressing hope of "working together to make the Olympic movement great again." Eight months later, the IBA hosted Trump Jr. on a panel in Istanbul alongside Kremlev and Manny Pacquiao, and its press release declared that "this alliance will not remain symbolic."

Anderson responded on Instagram. "Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding," she wrote. "It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful." She added that it was "unfortunate that something so personal and happy can be recast as something political or sinister simply because of who someone is or where they come from." A spokesperson for Trump Jr. said Kremlev is "a personal friend of Don," met through hunting circles, and "not someone he has a business relationship with." Kremlev, in his own statement, said the two met "a couple of years ago" and had never discussed political matters.

President Trump, asked about the report, said: "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." He described the events Kremlev funded as an "afterparty" and added, "Not a big deal!"

Counterintelligence veterans saw it differently. "If I'm paying for your wedding, at some point, you're going to owe me something," Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI counterintelligence official, told ProPublica. "This should be unthinkable for the son of the president." Holden Triplett, who ran counterintelligence on Trump's first-term National Security Council, said money "is a tried-and-true method to gain access" for Russian intelligence services seeking ties to American officials. Kushner, who is currently leading U.S. negotiations over Ukraine, declined to comment. The White House and the Russian government did not respond to ProPublica's questions, and a spokesman for Eric Trump said Kremlev was unknown to him.