International Boxing Association (IBA) head Umar Kremlev paid part of the cost of Donald Trump Jr.’s May wedding, held on a private island in the Bahamas, according to an investigation released by ProPublica earlier today citing records reviewed by the newsroom and interviews with three people familiar with the event. According to the outlet, Kremlev paid about $100,000 to rent one of the private islands where the reception was held and where guests stayed overnight. He also paid for a fireworks display costing around $70,000.
Kremlev’s team helped organize the event, while the payments were made through IB Challenger, a Dubai-based company linked to the IBA. The boxing association, which Kremlev leads, was previously financed by Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
Among the roughly 50 wedding guests were Trump Jr.’s brother-in-law Jared Kushner, his brother Eric Trump, and Kremlev himself, along with a group of Russian-speaking guests whose presence “puzzled other attendees,” according to ProPublica. Two people who spoke to the outlet said the group largely kept to itself and spoke Russian. The Russian guests are barely visible in photos and videos published after the wedding.
A spokesperson for Trump Jr. did not deny that Kremlev had paid for wedding expenses, describing him as a “personal friend of Don.” The spokesperson said the two “met through a mutual friend in the hunting world” and “bonded over their love of boxing and the outdoors.”
Kremlev’s press office also confirmed that the two men had a “friendly relationship” and said the businessman had “never discussed political matters” with his American acquaintances.
Former FBI officials interviewed by ProPublica called the situation concerning. “If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something. This should be unthinkable for the son of the president. End of story,” retired career FBI officer Frank Montoya Jr. told the publication.
Kremlev is known to have close ties to Vladimir Putin. In April, Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship, a Russian state honor, and in the days before the wedding Kremlev accompanied Putin on a trip to China.
Ukraine has imposed personal sanctions on Kremlev, citing his ties to Putin and to Russian security agencies.
