Russian Oligarch Bankrolled Trump Jr.'s Wedding, Report Says
Russian Oligarch Bankrolled Trump Jr.'s Wedding, Report Says
The News
Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding to socialite Bettina Anderson was largely paid for by Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin, according to a ProPublica investigation published Monday.
ProPublica reports that Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the event, including renting out a private island.
Kremlev appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, ProPublica found, yet he attended the intimate ceremony alongside a large group of other Russian guests.
Timeline
Kremlev and Trump Jr. appear to have met only a short time before the wedding, according to the report.
Kremlev covered much of the cost of the small ceremony, including the rental of a private island, and attended with a large Russian contingent, ProPublica reports.
ProPublica publishes its investigation naming Kremlev as the man who bankrolled the wedding.
Other outlets, including Mediaite, pick up the findings the same morning, calling the report explosive.
Reactions
Mediaite described the ProPublica findings as an "explosive report," framing the story around the oligarch's closeness to Putin.
The reporting available so far does not include a response from Trump Jr., from Anderson, or from Kremlev. The Frank will add their comments if they respond.
What's Next
The immediate question is whether Trump Jr. or the White House addresses the report, and whether Kremlev disputes ProPublica's accounting of what he spent.
Expect Democrats in Congress to press for answers about the Trump family's financial contacts with Russians close to the Kremlin, and expect follow-up reporting on how Kremlev and Trump Jr. came to know each other.
More
ProPublica is a nonprofit investigative newsroom; the wedding story ran Monday morning and was the basis for the coverage that followed. The Frank has not independently verified the spending figures described in the report, and is attributing them to ProPublica.
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