A Russian businessman close to Vladimir Putin and president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), Umar Kremlev, secretly covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for the wedding of U.S. President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. That was reported on September 14, 2026, by the investigative outlet ProPublica, citing financial records and three people familiar with the event.
Donald Trump Jr. married Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson in May 2026 on two private islands in the Bahamas. The three-day celebration was limited to about 50 guests, including Jared Kushner, Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump and other family members. President Donald Trump did not attend.
According to ProPublica, Kremlev paid to rent one of the islands — estimated at about $100,000 a night — where guests stayed and the reception was held, as well as a fireworks display costing around $70,000. His team also helped organize the event. The payments were made through a Dubai-based entity, IB Challenger, affiliated with the IBA. The association itself said it incurred no wedding expenses.
Kremlev attended the celebrations with a group of Russian-speaking guests whose presence, sources told the outlet, puzzled other invitees. He did not attend the small ceremony itself, which had about 18 guests. A spokesman for Trump Jr. did not dispute the payments and described Kremlev as a “personal friend”: the two met through mutual acquaintances in the hunting world and bonded over boxing and the outdoors. Kremlev’s press office confirmed a “friendly relationship.”
The report notes Kremlev’s ties to the Russian authorities: he heads the IBA, which received backing from Gazprom; he was in Putin’s circle on a trip to China shortly before the wedding; and earlier this year Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship. Ukraine has sanctioned him. Counterintelligence experts quoted by ProPublica said that a figure from Putin’s inner circle financing the wedding of a sitting U.S. president’s son raises questions about access and potential influence.
Trump Jr. and his wife said in a statement that the coverage recast a personal, happy occasion as something political: “Friendship doesn’t require a political motive.”