President Donald Trump said Friday that his son Donald Trump Jr. had reimbursed the Russian oligarch who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund his wedding celebration.
An investigation published this week by ProPublica reported that Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, helped pay for the younger Trump’s wedding festivities, including renting out a private island for the reception and guest lodgings.
The White House press office at the time suggested that the younger Trump had been friends with Kremlev for several years, but on Friday, the president suggested that his son had reimbursed Kremlev for the wedding gift, which had not been previously reported.
“It’s totally allowed, and a lot of people have parties, and it’s totally allowed. But as I understand it, he paid him back,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday afternoon. “He didn’t want to have that, so I hear he paid him back.”
“I guess a friend of his gave him a wedding party. That’s very common. I’ve heard of many people giving wedding parties,” he continued, adding that he’d personally done the same for his friends at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club in Florida. “Maybe he didn’t do a background check, but I’ve given wedding parties to numerous people. They get married, I give them a party.”
Trump added that, when he first saw the story, he asked his son about it directly and Trump Jr. confirmed that he had paid back Kremlev.
“That was a while ago. So I heard he’s done. I have to say, though, giving a wedding party is pretty common,” he concluded.
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You can watch Trump’s comments in full below.