Trump gets asked about Russian paying for Don Jr.’s wedding parties — says there’s more to the story

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President Donald Trump says his son reimbursed Russian businessman Umar Kremlev after Kremlev paid for lavish celebrations following Don Jr.’s May wedding.
The festivities reportedly cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and included a private island rental and fireworks.
Trump defended the original arrangement as “totally allowed” and said giving friends wedding parties is common.

President Donald Trump has weighed in on the unusual controversy surrounding his son’s wedding celebrations — and says Don Jr. didn’t ultimately let his Russian friend pick up the tab.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday that Donald Trump Jr. had reimbursed Umar Kremlev, the Russian businessman who reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars hosting festivities following Don Jr.’s May wedding to Bettina Anderson.

Asked whether accepting such an expensive gift was appropriate, Trump defended his son.

“Well, it’s totally, it’s totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all, but it’s totally allowed. But as I understand it, he paid him back. He didn’t want to have that, so I hear he paid him back.”

Trump said Kremlev was apparently a friend of his son’s and argued that friends throwing wedding parties for one another is hardly unheard of.

“I’ve given wedding parties to numerous people,” Trump said.

The president also revealed that he had asked Don Jr. about the situation after hearing the original story.

According to Trump, his son told him: “No, I’m paying him back, Dad.”

“And that was a while ago,” Trump added. “So I heard he’s paying.”

A person familiar with the matter separately told The Washington Post that Don Jr. had repaid Kremlev, although the amount was not disclosed.

The controversy began after ProPublica reported that Kremlev helped bankroll celebrations surrounding Don Jr.’s marriage to Bettina in the Bahamas.

Bettina Trump subsequently confirmed that Kremlev had hosted two nights of festivities following the couple’s private family wedding ceremony.

She called Kremlev “our dear friend” and described the celebrations as “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift.”

The reported expenses included renting a private island for the reception and a fireworks display.

Kremlev is president of the International Boxing Association and has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin awarded him Russia’s Order of Friendship earlier this year, and Kremlev traveled as part of a Russian delegation to China shortly before the wedding celebrations.

The relationship has attracted attention on Capitol Hill, where Democrats on the House Oversight Committee launched an inquiry into Kremlev’s role in paying for the festivities.

Bettina Trump has rejected suggestions that the gift carried a political motive.

“Friendship doesn’t require a political motive,” she wrote when confirming Kremlev’s role in the celebrations.

President Trump, who did not attend the wedding or the subsequent parties, previously said he had never heard of Kremlev.

Now the president says he asked his son about the Russian’s generosity — and Don Jr. decided his friend wasn’t going to be left holding the wedding bill.