World Newscross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/58222125
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In May, Donald Trump Jr. had a wedding on a pair of private islands.
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On May 24, Donald Trump Jr. was celebrating in the Bahamas, as scantily clad dancers in stilettos and sailor caps performed for him and his guests. It was the last night of his wedding, a lavish, three-day party held across a pair of ultra-exclusive private islands. A five-tier funfetti cake had been airlifted in from Florida, and helicopters and seaplanes descended on the islands before guests settled into their oceanfront villas. That night on the beach, Trump Jr. lifted his bride into the air while fireworks launched from a barge over the sea.
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“It was everything we dreamed of and more,” his wife later wrote on Instagram.
That dream was heavily funded by a secret benefactor: Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin.
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Kremlev footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses, according to records reviewed by ProPublica and interviews with three people familiar with the event. The oligarch paid to rent out one of the private islands, where a reception was held and where guests slept. He also covered other big-ticket items, like the fireworks show, and his team helped plan the event. Kremlev is the head of the International Boxing Association [IBA], a scandal-plagued sports group that has been financed by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. The wedding payments came from an IBA-affiliated entity in Dubai that the boxing association uses for financial transactions.
The guest list numbered around 50. It included Trump Jr.’s brother-in-law Jared Kushner, Eric Trump — and Kremlev, an imposing man with a shaved head who speaks limited English. The oligarch was part of a large group whose presence puzzled other attendees. They sometimes stood off by themselves, speaking Russian.
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Kremlev’s previously unreported relationship with Trump Jr. represents an extraordinary development: a member of Putin’s circle financially supporting the president’s son and gaining intimate access to the Trump family. For a decade, Putin’s government, regarded as a chief adversary of the U.S., has been accused of efforts to influence American elections. Attempts by Russia to make inroads with the Trumps before the 2016 election exploded into controversy that dogged much of the president’s first term.
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National security experts expressed alarm at Trump Jr. accepting the oligarch’s largesse, saying it raised an urgent question: What motivated Kremlev to spend a fortune cultivating the connection?
“If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired career FBI official who held senior counterintelligence roles. Oligarchs like Kremlev often act in coordination with the Russian government. While it’s unclear if that happened here, Trump Jr. put himself in a precarious position, Montoya said. “This should be unthinkable for the son of the president. End of story.”
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The revelations come as Trump Jr. has emerged as a political power center in his own right. Beloved by the MAGA base, he reportedly played an active role in vetting White House cabinet picks for Trump’s second term and was dubbed his father’s “most essential political adviser” by The Wall Street Journal. “I certainly don’t think I’d be sitting here as the VP nominee without Don’s help,” Vice President JD Vance told the outlet in late 2024.
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In 2009, Umar Kremlev did not yet exist.
He was in his late 20s, with a criminal record for extortion and battery, still going by his birth name, Umar Lutfulloyev, according to the Russian independent news outlet Proekt. But he was about to rapidly ascend in Russia to a position of wealth and influence, with the help of a powerful friend. (“Mr. Kremlev has a completely clean legal record,” his press office said.)
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With the business environment in Europe growing more hostile to Russia, Kremlev moved much of the IBA’s operations from Switzerland to the United Arab Emirates. A new Dubai entity, IB Challenger, would later pay wedding expenses for Trump Jr. The current sources of the IBA’s funds are murky, and, in recent years, top executives have given conflicting accounts of the status of its relationship with Gazprom.
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Recently, Kremlev has been working to expand into the U.S. market. In July, his group hosted a bare-knuckle boxing event in Miami, a chance to showcase a particularly bloody form of the sport in which contenders fight without gloves. But the debut was overshadowed when manosphere influencer Andrew Tate, who the IBA had brought in to host, was arrested by U.S. Marshals outside the arena. (Tate is facing rape and sex trafficking charges in the United Kingdom, which he has denied.)
Much about Kremlev’s relationship with Trump Jr., and where it is headed, remains unknown. In a press release after the Istanbul panel, the IBA hinted there was more to come.
“President Kremlev and Donald Trump Jr made it clear – this alliance will not remain symbolic,” the press release read. “More joint initiatives will follow.”
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Grifters gonna grift
At least have the class to feature the dude a little more prominently in the wedding photos.
five-tier funfetti cake
How disappointing. Even with hundreds of thousands of dollars, you can’t think of anything better than funfetti? Money literally can’t buy taste in this case.
More obvious Russian corruption/ influence, but any connections to Russia are a hoax.
Only for the cult. The rest of us have always seen it clearly.
But the people who really wish America would be friendlier with nazis/Russians tell me that America isn't friendly enough with nazis/Russians!
Poor sucker can't afford his own wedding even?
Now, if only Don Don would just leave a laptop at a repair shop…
..."according to records reviewed by ProPublica and interviews with three people familiar with the event"...
Show the records, at the very least. Provide the evidence for your audience, if you respect their intellect and ability to draw the same conclusion. Otherwise, just more nonsense posted by ProPublica with sourcing to "people familiar with the matter". Laughable. The article is pure speculation made out to be something more.
Until then, Hitchens' razor applies. What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
People upvoted your comment? Propublica is legit. You are some internet rando leveling baseless disbelief despite surely not knowing dick.
Are you a real person?
Edit: to add. Yes, reveal your sources so the administration can destroy them, great advice. Were you born yesterday or are you with the administration? Because those are the only two possibilities I see.
I can also argue with an Internet rando for leveling baseless belief. Propublica may be legit, but they're not showing the receipts on this one that connects the dots. Propublica is the platform, these 4 reporters don't earn any credibility with this kind of reporting. Propublica should demand better.
Not saying reveal the 3 individuals, yes, they'd surely have the regime's sights set on them, but contracts, receipts, accounting leaks can be shown, shit gets hacked and dumped all the time. Deniability as to where it came from, but when they have it, they can validate it with additional sources, company documents, other experts, etc. All we get here is, 'trust us'. Produce some documentation.
There's plenty of out in the open corruption to light this administration up for. Surely there are other more obscure stories of corruption with better sourcing than this. They show photos of the couple watching fireworks reportedly funded by the guy, but not a receipt to support that claim?
Who gives a fuck what you think though?
You are playing us. I think. Make a few comments to fit into the community and then grind your axe for your true purpose.
It's also entirely possible I just have unique, nuanced opinions that don't completely align with yours. If this article is true, add it to the pile of things that family should be run out of town for. Better yet, impeach, convict, remove from office, and go after the rest of that corrupt family enterprise based on mountains of evidence that supports that end. I just am not ready to swallow this news story as-is simply because it supports that narrative. Guess that makes me a bad person.
Lock me up. 😒
You don't have credibility, propublica does. Fuck your nuance.
Lol, OK kid
A toolish response if I ever heard one. How does that oligarchic dick taste by the way?
You may know that revealing the records will likely have undesired consequences for the sources. It is their full right to protect them.
Having said that, the article reads that
... a spokesperson for Trump Jr. did not dispute the wedding payments from Kremlev.
It is also noteworthy that, according to the linked article,
... in the days leading up to Trump Jr.’s wedding, Kremlev was in China as part of the delegation accompanying Putin, according to Chinese state media. The month before, Putin had bestowed him with a state honor, the Order of Friendship.
The Ukrainian government has imposed sanctions on Kremlev personally, citing his closeness to Putin and Russian security services.
And Kremlev was at the wedding, so even if he didn't pay for it (which he probably did), he's clearly close enough to the Trumps to be invited, which is bad enough.
I'm sure Trumps will sue them and win, right?
