Bettina Anderson, who married Don Jr. on a private island in the Bahamas in May, has confirmed through an Instagram post that a Russian oligarch contributed a generous gift to the happy couple, explaining he was “a dear friend.”
“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.”
The statement came as a sort of clarification from an earlier ProPublica investigation that reported Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses.
Kremlev rented the island where the reception was held and several guests stayed overnight, and paid for fireworks for the celebration as well as the planning for the event. There were at least 50 guests invited to the celebration.
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.