Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish Bahamas wedding was heavily funded by a Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin, according to a bombshell report.
Umar Kremlev, head of the International Boxing Association (IBA), paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for President Donald Trump’s eldest son when he tied the knot with his partner, socialite Bettina Anderson, in May, ProPublica reported.
This included renting a private island for a reception, where the happy couple had their first dance. Kremlev also paid for a massive fireworks display and helped plan other aspects of the three-day event.
While Kremlev did not attend the small wedding ceremony itself, he was part of a larger guest list of around 50 people who joined the Trumps for the wider celebrations in the Bahamas.
It is not known why Kremlev paid for so much of Trump Jr.’s wedding, especially as Forbes estimates that the president’s eldest son’s net worth has skyrocketed to around $300 million thanks to his crypto ventures.
Questions have also been raised about why Trump Jr. let a close Putin ally help with his wedding, especially as his family has been intensely scrutinized over its relationship with Russia dating back to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election.
“If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something,” Frank Montoya Jr., a retired career FBI official, told ProPublica. “This should be unthinkable for the son of the president. End of story.”
Putin bestowed Kremlev with the Order of Friendship, a state honor, in April, and a month later he joined the Russian leader for a visit to China. He was also handed ownership of Russia’s largest car dealership in 2023 after Putin nationalized it. He has been sanctioned by Ukraine because of his close links to Putin and his security services.
Kremlev, 43, is also said to be heavily involved in a group run by his 23-year-old’s wife twin sister, which allegedly plays a role in abducting children from occupied Ukrainian territories and relocating them for “rehabilitation.”
Kremlev was said to have been part of a group of Russians in attendance at the wedding reception whose presence “puzzled” other guests. This included businessman Alexander Lagutin and Elena Sobol, dubbed Kremlev’s “right-hand man” at the IBA.
“What are they doing here?” one person recalled thinking, according to ProPublica, about the conspicuous Russian guests.
Neither Trump Jr. nor his wife, now Bettina Trump, shared any photos of Kremlev or the other Russians who formed the close-knit group celebrating their special day on social media.
However, Kremlev appears in a photo shared on Instagram by one of Bettina’s friends who also attended. He is seen in the back of a group photo that includes Trump Jr.’s sisters, Ivanka and Tiffany, brother-in-law Jared Kushner, and others.
Speaking on his Triggered podcast, Trump Jr. said the event was “really small” and only attended by “close friends.”
While sharing the ProPublica report online, Bill Browder, once Russia’s largest foreign investor and someone who has spent years exposing corruption at the Kremlin, posted: “WTF! That’s about all one can say after reading this headline.”
One notable absence from the wedding was President Trump, who said he was too busy with “a thing called Iran and other things” over the May weekend to attend.
It is unclear precisely how long Trump Jr. and Kremlev have known each other. Trump Jr. took part in an IBA panel in Istanbul, Turkey, in September 2025, alongside Kremlev, boxing star Manny Pacquiao, and Rasheda Ali Walsh, daughter of Muhammad Ali.
The IBA has faced numerous scandals under Kremlev’s tenure. This includes being stripped of its status as the sport’s world governing body by the International Olympic Committee in 2023 over issues such as refereeing, financial stability, and ethical complaints.
A spokesperson for Trump Jr. told ProPublica that Kremlev is a “personal friend of Don” and “not someone he has a business relationship with.” The spokesperson did not dispute the wedding payments.
Kremlev’s press office added: “Mr. Kremlev and Mr. Trump Jr. have a friendly relationship,” and said they first met “a couple of years ago.”
“Mr. Kremlev has never discussed political matters with any of his American friends and acquaintances,” it added.
The Daily Beast has contacted Donald Trump Jr.’s and Umar Kremlev’s offices for comment.
