Trump Defends Son After Russian Oligarch Funds Wedding

Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson confirmed that Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, financed two nights of celebrations connected to their May wedding in the Bahamas. Reporting said Kremlev covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses, including a private-island rental and fireworks. Bettina described the spending as an extraordinarily generous gift from a dear friend and said the couple’s actual wedding ceremony was a private family event, rejecting suggestions that the arrangement had a political motive. President Donald Trump defended his son, calling the arrangement permissible and common while saying he understood that Trump Jr. had repaid or planned to repay Kremlev. The episode has drawn scrutiny because of Kremlev’s Kremlin ties and the broader focus on the Trump family’s relationships with foreign figures.