- The claim that a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin paid for Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding in May 2026 is still under investigation.
- The investigative newsroom ProPublica reported on Sept. 14 that Umar Kremlev, a Russian boxing and sports betting mogul, “bankrolled” the wedding of the U.S. president’s son with an undetermined six-figure sum.
- Trump and his wife, Bettina Anderson, said on Instagram that Kremlev had paid for two days of celebrations after the couple’s private May 22 wedding. The couple described the post-wedding festivities as “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend” that was “never intended to be our wedding weekend.”
- ProPublica’s reporting raised questions about a potential political conflict of interest because Kremlev has previously benefited from Russian government contracts to his companies and Trump has previously advised his father on political appointments.
- Days after ProPublica’s reporting, President Donald Trump said his son had paid back Kremlev. This claim remains unproven as of this writing.
- Snopes could not independently view and verify sources that substantiated either ProPublica’s or Anderson and Donald Trump Jr.’s claims about what exactly Kremlev paid for in relation to their wedding. Therefore, we leave this claim unrated.
- Snopes will update this report if additional information surfaces. We have contacted the Trump family, the White House and Kremlev’s press office for further comment on ProPublica’s reporting and are waiting for responses.
In September 2026, a claim (archived) circulated online that a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin paid for Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding that May.
Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump’s oldest son, married the socialite and model Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas on May 22, followed by two days of festivities.
One Threads user who shared the claim about the funding of Trump’s wedding wrote:
A Russian oligarch who is close to Putin paid for a good portion of the wedding between Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Trump. Let’s say it again for the people in the back of the class: THERE. IS. A. RUSSIAN. ASSET. SITTING. IN. THE. WHITE. HOUSE.
Similar claims circulated on X (archived), Facebook (archived) and Reddit (archived). Snopes readers also contacted us about the rumor.
The claim circulated after the independent newsroom ProPublica published an investigation that found Umar Kremlev, a prominent figure in the Russian boxing and sports betting scenes, paid an undetermined six-figure sum for a lavish island party in connection with Anderson and Trump’s wedding. The couple appeared to confirm this payment from Kremlev as “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift” in a statement on Instagram (archived).
However, while the newlyweds appeared to confirm that Kremlev had paid for celebrations that took place directly after their Bahamas wedding, they did not appear to accept ProPublica’s claim that Kremlev had “bankrolled” the wedding either in whole or in part.
Kremlev’s payment presented a potential conflict of interest, ProPublica’s reporting claimed, because of the Russian’s reported proximity to Putin and Trump’s position as a “political power center” as an adviser to his father. It was unclear at the time of this writing exactly how close Kremlev was to Putin, though Russian reporting found his businesses had benefited from government contracts.
After ProPublica’s reporting, the U.S. president claimed (archived) that his son paid back Kremlev for the celebrations. This claim is unproven.
ProPublica’s investigation was based on interviews with at least three people “familiar with the event” and records reviewed by the outlet.
We contacted ProPublica to independently verify the sources that formed the basis of their investigation. A spokesperson said, “ProPublica doesn’t comment on sourcing beyond what we put in our stories, but we do want to flag that Donald Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Anderson, have since confirmed the payments.”
Because Snopes could not independently view and verify sources that proved either ProPublica’s or Anderson and Trump’s claims about what Kremlev paid for in relation to their wedding, we leave this claim unrated.
We contacted The Trump Organization and Kremlev to verify statements given to ProPublica and seek further comment on the outlet’s reporting. We await replies to our queries.
The statement
Anderson and Trump wrote on Instagram on Sept. 14, 2026:
Don and I got married privately on Friday, surrounded ONLY by our family. It was intimate, deeply personal and one of the most beautiful days of our lives.
The weekend that followed had actually been planned well in advance as a fun weekend with friends. It was never intended to be our wedding weekend. When our original wedding plans changed, we simply decided to get married before it and arrived at an already planned weekend as newlyweds.
Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding. It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful.
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. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift.
While the statement (signed: “With love and gratitude, Don & Bettina”) did confirm Kremlev had paid for a “fun weekend with friends,” the couple appeared to distinguish between the wedding itself and Kremlev’s reported gift of a preplanned event that was “never intended to be our wedding weekend.”
According to ProPublica’s reporting, Kremlev was not present at the couple’s wedding ceremony, but they had their first dance on the island he allegedly rented “for around $100,000 a night.” It was unclear how that detail aligned with Anderson and Trump’s statement that claimed the celebrations paid for by Kremlev were unrelated to the wedding.
Uncertainties remain over Trump-Kremlev friendship
Though Anderson and Trump described Kremlev as a “dear friend,” ProPublica reported that the men “appeared to have met only recently.” Kremlev’s press office reportedly told ProPublica they met “a couple of years ago.” In 2025, Trump spoke at an event hosted by the International Boxing Association, of which Kremlev has been the president since 2020.
A spokesperson for Trump reportedly told ProPublica that he and Kremlev bonded over a love of boxing and the outdoors and that Kremlev did not talk about “political matters” with his American friends.
That could well be true, given that ProPublica reported that Kremlev spoke “limited English.”
Though it was unclear exactly how close Kremlev was to the Russian president, reporting by the Russian independent newsroom Proekt found that Kremlev rose through the Russian boxing and sports betting worlds in large part due to being awarded government contracts for his businesses. Kremlev said in a February 2024 interview that he would not describe himself as a friend of Putin’s but praised the president’s work ethic.
Kremlev received a government award from Putin in April 2026 for his services to sport.
The next month, Kremlev’s Telegram account (archived) showed he visited China at the same time as Putin, days before Anderson and Trump’s wedding, though Kremlev’s press office said he was not part of Putin’s official delegation on the trip.
Trump family had ‘no clue’ about ‘dear friend’ Kremlev
Though Anderson and Trump described Kremlev as a “dear friend,” two other members of the Trump family did not appear to know who the generous gift-giver was.
A spokesperson for Eric Trump reportedly told ProPublica that he had “absolutely no clue” who Kremlev was.
Donald Trump reportedly told The New York Times on Sept. 14 that he, too, did not know who the Russian benefactor was.
Four days after ProPublica published its reporting, on Sept. 18, the president told reporters at the White House that he had “heard” that his son paid back Kremlev for what the newlywed couple initially described as a wedding gift. He did not say whether paying back Kremlev had always been the plan or whether it was sparked by ProPublica’s reporting.
At the time of this writing, neither the White House nor Donald Trump Jr. has publicly proved Kremlev’s money was repaid, nor have they returned queries from Snopes about the alleged payment.
During the same news conference, the president appeared to play down the significance of Kremlev being Russian and but also appeared to muddle Anderson and Donald Trump Jr.’s distinction that Kremlev’s celebrations were not part of their wedding.
Donald Trump called Kremlev’s celebrations a “wedding party” and suggested that it was a normal thing to give to newlyweds. He said, “I’ve given, well, I don’t know, maybe he didn’t do a background check, but I’ve given, I’ve given wedding parties for numerous people.”
The president later repeated, “I have to say, though, you know, giving a wedding party is pretty common.”
Reporting sparks bipartisan calls for investigation
ProPublica’s investigation into Kremlev’s alleged payments raised immediate concerns on both sides of the political divide.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the lead Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, wrote in a Sept. 14 letter to Donald Trump Jr. that the committee was investigating the “numerous ways in which you have sought to enrich yourself and your family on the basis of your proximity to President Donald Trump.”
Garcia wrote that, to this end, “your ties to your self-described ‘dear friend’ Mr. Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch responsible for bankrolling your May 24, 2026, wedding celebrations in the Bahamas, may be the most serious allegation against you to date.”
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 21, asking it to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. in connection with an investigation “into the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests.”
It was unclear what the outcome of any such investigation in the House or Senate would be, especially if Trump had indeed paid back Kremlev for the alleged gift.
DeepL.com provided translations from Russian into English.
