He was close enough to the president’s son to lavish him with a Gatsby-like party but not so close apparently that anyone besides the bride and groom knew him.
Umar Kremlev, a Russian businessman with close ties to President Vladimir Putin, recently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Trump’s three-day wedding bash in the Bahamas.
Kremlev’s contributions covered some of the biggest expenses, including renting a private island and a fireworks display launched from a barge in the sea, according to ProPublica, which first broke the story of the Kremlin-linked oligarch’s involvement.
The oligarch is the president of the International Boxing Association, an organization that has been criticized for its ties to the Russian
government and has lost much of its standing in international sports. In April, Putin awarded Kremlev the "Order of Friendship," the organization announced.
"There are not that many things that can impress a Russian investigative journalist these days, we’ve seen a lot, but this surprised me," Mikhail Rubin, a journalist at independent Russian outlet Proekt, told USA TODAY about seeing Kremlev’s familiar bald head among Trump family members at the wedding party.
He added, "Kremlev is a very specific person" who often raises suspicions.
Trump family members at times have said they had "no clue" who the Russian was, while at other times referring to him as a "dear friend."
Following Congress launching an investigation into Trump’s relationship with the Putin ally, President Trump said his son had returned the money. Trump Organization officials did not reply to questions about whether the money had been returned.
Trump Jr. does not hold an official White House position but is the co-founder of World Liberty Financial, the firm that has made the president hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency investments since he took office in 2025.
In Rubin’s telling, Kremlev was "an ordinary boxer who used his boxing skills" to get ahead and has become very good at cultivating powerful friends.
Seeing him among the first family of the United States reminded Rubin of another one of Kremlev’s traits: a ready ability to make friends aided by an extravagant generosity.
"They know how to build relationships and make friends, and they’re usually ready to spend any amount of money for that," Rubin of Kremlev and others who rise in Putin’s Russia. "He’s perfect for this."
A 'dear friend'
It’s unclear how long Trump and Kremlev knew each other before the Russian businessman splurged on the wedding party in the Bahamas. Officials at The Trump Organization, where Trump is executive vice president, did not return requests for comment.
But Trump Jr. and Kremlev have known each other since at least 2025 when they spoke on a panel on business and sports hosted at an International Boxing Association event in Turkey. Kremlev runs the IBA, an organization funded by a Russian corporation closely linked to the Kremlin.
"This is not just about boxing; it’s about life lessons, discipline, integrity and opportunity," Trump Jr. was quoted saying after the 2025 event. "I am proud to call Umar not only a leader but a friend."
Bettina Trump recently echoed her husband’s sentiments, calling Kremlev a "dear friend" in response to criticism of the potential motivation of someone linked to Putin bankrolling the couple’s wedding celebrations.
"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," she wrote in a post on social media. "Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift."
Others from the Trump family said they were unfamiliar with the Russian.
"I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him," President Donald Trump said in a statement shared by the White House "and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding. It was an ‘afterparty’ given in their honor. Not a big deal!"
The president added that he was not at the party. A spokesperson for Eric Trump told ProPublica that the president’s second son had "no clue" who Kremlev was.
Becoming Kremlev
Among the first things to know about Kremlev according to journalists at Proekt is that his real name isn’t Kremlev but Lutfulloyev, a name reflecting his roots in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan.
In a deep dive on the rising star in Putin’s Russia, Proekt reported that Lutfulloyev changed his name to Kremlev in 2010 at the age of 28 in the city of Serpukhov, outside Moscow, where he came of age boxing.
Stops Kremlev made afterwards included joining the Night Wolves, a biker gang dubbed "Putin’s Angels" by Rolling Stone. Kremlev rode a Harley Davidson and a Ducati, according to Proekt.
His talents for making friends shined as he grew close to members of Putin’s guard, including their chief Alexei Rubezhnoi with whom now Kremlev regularly spars and celebrates holidays, Proekt reported.
"He chose the right people," Rubin said.
He was awarded accolades including the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, 2nd degree, and the Order of Friendship, and began traveling abroad with Putin as part of his entourage. Just days before Trump’s wedding, Kremlev joined the Russian leader on a visit to China, ProPublica reported, citing Chinese state media.
Dems demand records of 'secretive' relationship
Kremlev’s outsized gift, his close ties to Putin and the opaque nature of his friendship with Trump have left critics wondering what drew the Russian to cover the costs of his apparently newfound friend’s party.
"The secretive, close relationship between the son of a sitting U.S. President and a member of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s inner circle raises serious national security and public corruption concerns," U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California) wrote in a Sept. 14 letter to the White House.
Garcia is the Democratic leader of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. On Sept. 15 he announced the group is launching an investigation into Kremlev’s gift.
In a letter to Trump, Garcia noted the role the president’s first-born son has played in advising his father and said that Trump’s acceptance of the gift "from a member of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s inner circle raises serious questions about pay-to-play schemes and foreign intelligence infiltration of the President’s family."
Among records requested from the White House and Trump as part of the Congressional investigation, Garcia asked for "financial records of all purchases made for your wedding by foreign nationals," a list of all dates of contact between Trump and Kremlev and a full list of Trump’s wedding and wedding party guests.
According to ProPublica, Kremlev was not the only Russian at the festivities. Also on hand were others with ties to Kremlev’s boxing organization and to Russian defense contractors. Critics have pointed out that Trump is a major investor in defense contracting companies.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Float like a butterfly: Who's the Oligarch boxer in Trump wedding bash
