Three Republican senators fault Don Jr. over Russian oligarch's payments

Three Republican senators have criticized Donald Trump Jr. for accepting a Russian oligarch's payments toward his Bahamas wedding celebrations in May, as House Democrats seek records from him, the White House and the FBI.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Sept. 20 on "Face the Nation" that the payments were wrong. "Anytime someone gives a $250,000 gift and they have strong ties to the Kremlin, that's wrong," Cassidy said. "With that proximity to power, being the president's son, you've got to give faith to the American people that Washington is not a swamp," he said.

Sen. John Curtis of Utah criticized the payments on Sept. 18, and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina earlier that week. President Donald Trump has said his son repaid the oligarch, and has said he does not know him.

What Kremlev paid for

Umar Kremlev, the head of the International Boxing Association, covered hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses, ProPublica reported on Sept. 14, citing records it reviewed and interviews with three people familiar with the event. He rented one of the two private islands used for the weekend, paid for a fireworks show, and his team helped plan the event.

The island where the reception was held, about a 10-minute boat ride from the ceremony site, can rent for around $100,000 a night, and Kremlev paid for multiple nights. The payments came from a Dubai entity affiliated with the boxing association, which has been financed by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

The celebrations were spread across two private islands in the Exumas. Putin awarded Kremlev the Order of Friendship the month before the wedding, and in the days before it Kremlev traveled to China with the delegation accompanying the Russian president, Chinese state media reported. His press office told ProPublica he was not part of the official delegation. Ukraine has sanctioned him personally, citing his closeness to Putin and Russian security services.

About 50 people attended, among them Jared Kushner and Eric Trump. Kremlev, who skipped the smaller Friday ceremony, came with a group of Russians whose presence puzzled other guests. ProPublica confirmed he was there through a sunset group photo posted months earlier on Instagram by a friend of the bride, in which the top of his shaved head is visible behind the couple.

Two letters from House Democrats

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, opened an investigation on Sept. 14, within hours of the ProPublica story, asking Trump Jr. for his communications with Kremlev and for records of "all purchases made for your wedding by foreign nationals." He also sought records from the White House, MS NOW reported.

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel on Sept. 17, asking whether the bureau knew about Kremlev's relationship with Trump Jr. before it became public. He also asked whether the FBI had assessed if Kremlev, his organizations or the Russian nationals at the event acted on behalf of the Russian government, and whether Trump Jr. and the U.S. government officials who attended had been offered a defensive counterintelligence briefing.

Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, wrote that the reporting, if accurate, presents "significant counterintelligence concerns that must be thoroughly investigated by the FBI," and asked for a written response by Sept. 30.

Patel was asked about the matter on Sept. 15 at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing by Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He said he was unfamiliar with the reporting, and that the FBI would "look at whatever information comes our way, and analyze it."

Contracts named in the letter

Trump Jr. is a partner at 1789 Capital, a pro-Trump investment firm. At least four of its portfolio companies received more than $735 million in government contracts in 2025, the Financial Times reported in December 2025.

A Russian oligarch reportedly financing parts of a lavish wedding for the owner of multiple firms holding Department of Defense contracts is all the more disturbing

They include Firehawk Aerospace, a rocket propulsion start-up, which won an Air Force contract worth about $4.9 million in August 2025, and the quantum computing company PsiQuantum, which received about $10.8 million from the Air Force in April 2025. The artificial intelligence group Cerebras Systems signed a $45 million deal with the Pentagon, and Vulcan Elements received a $620 million award from the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital.

Garcia asked Trump Jr. whether he holds an active security clearance, whether Kremlev had ever asked for favorable treatment by the U.S. government or for information about the administration, and whether he had disclosed the friendship to the defense contractors in which he invests. He also asked him to preserve records of his contacts with the oligarch.

What the president said

Trump skipped the May wedding. Asked about it on May 21, he said he would try to attend but that it was "not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things." The White House released a statement from him saying he had "no idea who Umar is" and "was not present at the party." He has since said his son paid the oligarch back, according to Raw Story.

Criticism from Senate Republicans

Curtis, of Utah, called the payments corruption in his weekly video message to constituents, saying the arrangement "just stinks" and that it was "a big deal."

Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, called the gift "beyond bad," according to Washington Sun reporter Igor Bobic. "Don Jr. is worth somewhere between 300 million and 400 million dollars," Tillis said. "Unless he has a cash flow problem, why on earth would you accept money from a Russian oligarch who's actually gone on delegation meetings with Xi Jinping in China?"

Cassidy said repaying the funds made a difference and that he was glad the money had been repaid, but that the claim should be checked. "Would be nice to have that kind of verified and no, it shouldn't have been done in the first place," he said. The appearance of the gift, he said, was "really bad."

What is not established

Kremlev's reason for paying is not known. ProPublica reported that the two men appear to have met only recently and that Forbes, in December 2025, estimated Trump Jr.'s net worth at roughly $300 million. A spokesperson for Trump Jr. did not dispute the payments, saying "Umar is a personal friend of Don" and that Kremlev is "not someone he has a business relationship with."

Kremlev's press office told ProPublica that the two men first met "a couple of years ago" and that he has "never discussed political matters with any of his American friends and acquaintances."

Holden Triplett, who served as Trump's counterintelligence director on the National Security Council during the first term, told ProPublica that Russian intelligence frequently seeks to build ties with U.S. government officials and their family members. "Money is a tried-and-true method to gain access," said Triplett, who also worked for the FBI in Moscow.

If I'm paying for your wedding, at some point, you're going to owe me something

The couple said in a statement posted on Bettina Trump's Instagram account that their "dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding," describing it as an "extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend." The weekend that followed the private May 22 ceremony, they wrote, had been planned well in advance as a fun weekend with friends. "Friendship doesn't require a political motive," they wrote.

The requests to Trump Jr. are voluntary, and Democrats would gain subpoena power only if they win the House in November, The Daily Beast reported. Trump Jr. did not respond to a request for comment from ProPublica about the investigation.