Donald Trump Jr.’s new wife, Bettina, is confirming that her May wedding weekend celebration was partially funded by a man with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a post on her Instagram page Monday morning signed by the couple, Bettina Trump wrote that the man, Umar Kremlev, was a “dear friend,” who “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,” it went on.
ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative website, reported earlier Monday that the wedding between Trump Jr. and socialite Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas was heavily funded by Kremlev, a Russian oligarch who heads the International Boxing Association. Earlier reporting noted: After ProPublica reported that Donald Trump Jr’s Bahamas wedding with Bettina Anderson was funded by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, Bettina put out a long post on Instagram clearing the air. It was never intended to be our wedding weekend. When our original wedding plans changed, we simply decided to get married before it and arrived at an already planned weekend as newlyweds,” it went on. Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift. That gift comes as Russia remains at war following its invasion of Ukraine and as the president has failed to broker a promised peace deal between the nations.
Because of who someone is or where they come from, “It’s unfortunate that something so personal and happy can be recast as something political or sinister simply. During the 2016 campaign, his meeting with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya in Trump Tower was the subject of intense scrutiny by federal and congressional investigators probing whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to meddle in the election.
ProPublica reported that Kremlev “footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses,” including paying to rent out one of two private islands where the three-day party was held and a fireworks show. In the post, Bettina Trump said that she and the president’s son were married in a private ceremony “surrounded ONLY by our family,” “The weekend that followed had actually been planned well in advance as a fun weekend with friends. Kremlev was recently honored with the Order of Friendship by Putin, according to the International Boxing Association, and accompanied Putin to China as part of a Russian delegation, according to the Chinese state media cited by the outlet. The meeting had been billed as an opportunity to discuss potentially incriminating information about the president’s then-Democrat opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as part of the Russian government’s efforts to help Trump Jr.’s father win the White House. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Earlier reporting noted: Generous gift from a dear friend: Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law breaks silence on oligarch funding her wedding; says there is no mystery, no conspiracy Donald Trump Jr’s wife Bettina issued a statement on ProPublica report that their Bahamas wedding was funded by a Russian oligarch. She said there is no conspiracy, no mystery, as Kremlev indeed funded two nights of celebrations as a gift. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift,” she said.
Trump Jr. has previously been scrutinized over his Russian ties.
