Eric Trump maintains he knows nothing about a certain “dear friend” of Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Trump: the Vladimir Putin-linked Russian oligarch who paid for their wedding celebration.
ProPublica reported Monday that for President Donald Trump’s eldest son’s May wedding in the Bahamas, Umar Kremlev, head of the International Boxing Association, covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses, including renting a private island and putting on a fireworks show.
Kremlev, 43, didn’t attend the intimate wedding ceremony, but was pictured at the larger celebration later.
After the story ran, the couple posted a joint statement on Instagram acknowledging their connection with Kremlev.
“Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding,” Donald, 48, and Bettina, 39, wrote. “It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful.”
“It’s 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,” they added. “Friendship doesn’t require a political motive.”
Eric Trump, 42, apparently remains unaware of Kremlev. A spokesperson told ProPublica in a grammatically incorrect statement: “Eric has absolutely no clue who this person is, nor has never heard his name.”
Curiously, Eric and Kremlev were both on the approximately 50-person guest list for the wedding celebration, according to ProPublica. When asked if Eric ever interacted with Kremlev—who was among a group whose presence reportedly sparked questions from others—or if anyone even pointed out Kremlev to Eric, a spokesperson for Eric at the Trump Organization told the Daily Beast: “Eric is neither a friend, nor does he know who this person is. He was incredibly honored to attend his brother’s wedding.”
There don’t appear to be any photos of Eric and Kremlev together. Eric was seen in one of the photos Bettina posted on Instagram while recapping her wedding.
Kremlev’s press office told ProPublica that he and Donald Jr. “have a friendly relationship,” and that they first met “a couple of years ago.”
“Mr. Kremlev has never discussed political matters with any of his American friends and acquaintances,” his office added.
Still, an unanswered question is why Kremlev was allowed to contribute heavily to the wedding expenses of the billionaire president’s son.
“If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something,” retired FBI official Frank Montoya Jr. told ProPublica. “This should be unthinkable for the son of the president. End of story.”
President Trump, 80, did not attend Don Jr.’s wedding, which was his second.
In the days leading up to it, he told reporters in the Oval Office that he would “try and make it,” but said the occasion was “not good timing” because of his ongoing war with Iran. But just a few days after the wedding celebration, the president announced that he was planning to travel to New York to attend a New York Knicks game.
Eric has not commented on X about Kremlev in the wake of the ProPublica report. His most recent post on the site was an awkwardly oriented photo of himself standing alone in the fairway at the Irish Open, which his father also attended over the weekend. The tournament took place at the president’s golf course in Doonbeg, County Clare.
“Thank you to my amazing team at @trumpireland — we are truly the best at what we do,” he wrote, while tagging the wrong account.
