Oligarch Umar Kremlev’s contributions to the wedding festivities were first reported by ProPublica, which wrote that the Russian businessman spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to rent out a private island in the Bahamas and a fireworks show. The outlet reported that the guest list included roughly 50 guests, including family members, close friends, and Kremlev, who according to ProPublica was part of a larger group of Russian guests whose presence was a source of confusion for other attendees.
“Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding,” they wrote in a post on Bettina Trump’s Instagram on Monday in a caption that accompanied a series of photos from the evenings in question showing the couple partying with other guests, performances, and the beach-side venue. “It’s unfortunate that something so personal and happy can be recast as something political or sinister simply because of who someone is or where they come from. Friendship doesn’t require a political motive.”
Here’s what to know about Kremlev and his ties to Putin and the Trump family.
He went on to join a notorious biker gang, the Night Wolves, not long after changing his name, according to Russian news reports. Outlets reported that during his time in the group, which was the first official biker community in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Kremlev met Alexei Rubezhnoi, who currently leads Putin’s presidential security service. The Washington Post reported that Putin himself is considered an honorary member of the Night Wolves.
In 2024, Kremlev acquired Rolf, Russia’s largest car dealership group, which had previously been state-owned.
What are Kremlev’s ties to Putin?
Kremlev has been connected with Putin for years, as has been documented through public appearances and business dealings.
That same year, Kremlev stood alongside Putin during the opening of the International Boxing Center in Moscow.
“Umar is guided by Putin. It was using the sport for soft political power,” an ex-IBA board member told ProPublica of Kremlev’s leadership of the organization. “It’s geopolitics. That it’s boxing is just happenstance.”
He was also honored by Putin with the Order of Friendship, according to the IBA, a state accolade that celebrates those who have helped to improve the Russian Federation in various sectors. And earlier this year, Kemlev accompanied Putin on a visit to China, according to Chinese state media. Kremlev’s press office told ProPublica in a statement that he was not part of the Russian President’s “official delegation” during the trip.
After President Trump returned to the White House last year, Kremlev and the CEO of the boxing organization sent him an open letter congratulating him on his re-election and expressing the IBA’s “sincere gratitude for your strong and principled stance regarding the inadmissibility in the participation of ineligible athletes in women’s boxing competition,” in reference to Trump’s stance against the participation of transgender women in women’s sports.
Last September, Trump Jr. sat on a panel discussion hosted by the IBA in Istanbul, during which he also critiqued the participation of transgender women in women’s sports while onstage with Kremlev.
A spokesperson for Trump Jr. told the New York Timesthat the two men bonded over boxing and hunting after meeting through a mutual friend, and that they are not in business with one another.
A spokeswoman for Eric Trump, Trump Jr.’s brother, meanwhile told the Times and ProPublica, “Eric has absolutely no clue who this person is.”
Intelligence experts raise concerns
Holden Triplett, who served nearly 15 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and was previously the Director for Counterintelligence at the National Security Council at the White House during Trump’s first Administration, says that any kind of relationship between an individual with ties to the President and someone linked to the Kremlin can pose a risk to the U.S.—though he says he doesn’t find the Trumps’ apparent relationship with Kremlev to be particularly alarming.
This isn’t the first time Trump Jr. has drawn controversy over interactions related to Russia. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer who claimed she could provide information that would hurt his father’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton’s campaign. That meeting later became a point in the investigation special counsel Robert Mueller conducted into President Trump’s campaign and its ties to Russia, though Trump Jr. was never accused of wrongdoing in the probe.
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