WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday defended his son’s recent wedding party being partially bankrolled by a Russian oligarch, but also said he’d been told the money would be paid back. “It’s totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, before adding, “But, as I understand it, he paid them back.” He also said, “I hear he paid them back” without elaborating. ProPublica first reported this week that Umar Kremlev, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, helped pay to rent a private island and for a fireworks show when Donald Trump Jr. and socialite Bettina Anderson were married in the Bahamas in May. In a subsequent post on her Instagram page signed by the couple, Bettina Trump wrote that Kremlev, head of the International Boxing Association, was a “dear friend” who “very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding.” In the post, Bettina Trump said she and the president’s son were married in a private ceremony “surrounded ONLY by our family.” Still, the president — who did not attend the wedding, saying at the time he was too busy — defended Kremlev’s involvement as part of the festivities. Without providing details he said of his son, “a person that he knows — I guess a friend of his — gave him a wedding party.” “That’s very common,” Trump said, adding, “I’ve given wedding parties to numerous people,” while also seeming to suggest that there was no background check done for these kinds of gifts. “With all of that being said, I understand that Don’s paying him back,” Trump said. The president also divulged for the first time that he’d previously heard about Kremlev’s involvement, saying of his son, “I asked about it.” “He said, ‘No, I’m paying him back, Dad,”’ Trump said as he recalled their past conversation, which he noted had occurred “a while ago.” “So I heard he’s paying him,” Trump said. ProPublica reported that the wedding was heavily funded by Kremlev, including that he “footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars” in expenses like renting out one of two private islands where the three-day party was held. The gift came as Russia remains at war with Ukraine following its invasion more than four years ago, and as Trump has failed to broker a promised peace deal between both sides. Kremlev was recently honored with the Order of Friendship by Putin, according to the International Boxing Association. He also accompanied Putin to China as part of a Russian delegation, according to the Chinese state media cited by ProPublica. Will Weissert, The Associated Press
