President Donald Trump said Friday that his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has repaid Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association, for financing lavish gifts tied to his wedding celebration in the Bahamas earlier this year.
Oval Office Remarks Address Ethics Concerns
Speaking to reporters at the White House, the president called the arrangement “totally allowed” and said such gestures are common at weddings. “That’s very common; I’ve heard of many people giving wedding parties,” Trump said. “I hear he’s paid him back,” he added, describing Kremlev as “a friend” of his son’s.
Kremlev, a Russian businessman with reported ties to the Kremlin, reportedly financed a private island rental and fireworks display worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to a ProPublica report. The Russian businessman’s Kremlin connections have drawn scrutiny over potential foreign influence near the presidential family.
Couple Disputes Wedding Ceremony Link
Earlier this week, Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Trump, addressed the gifts on social media, saying the island gathering was not their wedding ceremony but rather “an already planned weekend” with friends. They described their relationship with Kremlev as a friendship and said he hosted two nights of celebrations afterward as a wedding gift, denying any political motive behind the gesture.
President Trump did not attend the event.
Wedding Has Drawn Scrutiny Before
This is not the first time the wedding has faced ethics scrutiny. In May, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) linked Trump’s initial absence from the ceremony to a separate $620 million conditional Pentagon loan for Vulcan Elements, a company that makes high-performance rare earth permanent magnets.
Trump Jr.’s investment firm, 1789 Capital, had an undisclosed stake in the company. Schiff described the loan as a taxpayer-funded "wedding present."
A Pattern of Scrutinized Gifts
Gift-giving has repeatedly drawn scrutiny during Trump’s second term.
In May 2025, Qatar’s royal family gifted the president a $400 million Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) 747-8 jet, which economist Peter Schiff and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers called “banana-republic-level corruption.”
In August 2025, Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) then CEO Tim Cook presented Trump with a 24-karat gold-based plaque, days before Apple secured a tariff exemption on imported chips.
Financial disclosures show Trump gave a total of $155,000 in holiday cash gifts to four close aides, including $45,000 to Natalie Harp, who also traveled with Trump on a secret flight out of Turkey after a sudden change of planes.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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