On May 24, Donald Trump Jr. was celebrating in the Bahamas, as scantily clad dancers in stilettos and sailor caps performed for him and his guests.
uncertain
dancers → celebrate → him
It was the last night of his wedding, a lavish, three-day party held across a pair of ultra-exclusive private islands.
asserted
It → hold → islands
A five-tier funfetti cake had been airlifted in from Florida, and helicopters and seaplanes descended on the islands before guests settled into their oceanfront villas.
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guests → airlift → villas
That night on the beach, Trump Jr. lifted his bride into the air while fireworks launched from a barge over the sea.
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fireworks → lift → sea
“It was everything we dreamed of and more,” his wife later wrote on Instagram.
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wife → dream → Instagram
That dream was heavily funded by a secret benefactor: Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin.
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dream → fund → Putin
Kremlev footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses, according to records reviewed by ProPublica and interviews with three people familiar with the event.
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Kremlev → foot → event
The oligarch paid to rent out one of the private islands, where a reception was held and where guests slept.
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guests → pay → islands
He also covered other big-ticket items, like the fireworks show, and his team helped plan the event.
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team → cover → event
Kremlev is the head of the International Boxing Association, a scandal-plagued sports group that has been financed by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
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that → plague → giant
The wedding payments came from an IBA-affiliated entity in Dubai that the boxing association uses for financial transactions.
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association → come → transactions
The guest list numbered around 50.
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list → number → ?
It included Trump Jr.’s brother-in-law Jared Kushner, Eric Trump — and Kremlev, an imposing man with a shaved head who speaks limited English.
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who → include → English
The oligarch was part of a large group whose presence puzzled other attendees.
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presence → puzzle → attendees
They sometimes stood off by themselves, speaking Russian.
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They → stand → Russian
“It was really small, like, just really close friends,” Trump Jr. later said on his podcast.
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Jr. → say → podcast
Kremlev’s previously unreported relationship with Trump Jr. represents an extraordinary development: a member of Putin’s circle financially supporting the president’s son and gaining intimate access to the Trump family.
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member → represent → family
For a decade, Putin’s government, regarded as a chief adversary of the U.S., has been accused of efforts to influence American elections.
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government → regard → elections
Attempts by Russia to make inroads with the Trumps before the 2016 election exploded into controversy that dogged much of the president’s first term.
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that → make → term
National security experts expressed alarm at Trump Jr. accepting the oligarch’s largesse, saying it raised an urgent question: What motivated Kremlev to spend a fortune cultivating the connection?
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What → express → connection
“If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired career FBI official who held senior counterintelligence roles.
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who → pay → roles
Oligarchs like Kremlev often act in coordination with the Russian government.
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Oligarchs → act → government
While it’s unclear if that happened here, Trump Jr. put himself in a precarious position, Montoya said.
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Montoya → ’ → position
Do You Have Information We Should Know About Donald Trump Jr.?
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We → have → Jr.
We’re still reporting.
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We → report → ?
If you know anything about Trump Jr., his businesses or his relationship with Umar Kremlev, please get in touch.
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you → know → touch
I’m always looking for under-covered stories about business and politics, no matter the specific subject.
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I → look → business
I take confidentiality seriously.
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I → take → confidentiality
Holden Triplett, who served as Trump’s counterintelligence director on the National Security Council during his first term, said Russian intelligence frequently seeks to build ties with U.S. government officials and their family members.
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intelligence → serve → officials
“Money is a tried-and-true method to gain access,” said Triplett, who also worked for the FBI in Moscow.
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who → try → Moscow
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.
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Kremlev → lead → media
The month before, Putin had bestowed him with a state honor, the Order of Friendship.
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Putin → bestow → Friendship
The Ukrainian government has imposed sanctions on Kremlev personally, citing his closeness to Putin and Russian security services.
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government → impose → Putin
It’s not clear why Kremlev helped pay for Trump Jr.’s wedding.
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Kremlev → ’ → wedding
The men appear to have met only recently.
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men → appear → ?
Public reporting suggests Trump Jr. could have afforded it himself, with Forbes recently estimating his net worth at roughly $300 million.
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Forbes → suggest → million
In response to detailed questions, a spokesperson for Trump Jr. did not dispute the wedding payments from Kremlev.
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spokesperson → dispute → Kremlev
“Umar is a personal friend of Don,” he said.
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he → say → Don
The spokesman said that Kremlev is “not someone he has a business relationship with” and that the men met through a mutual friend in the hunting world and bonded over their love of boxing and the outdoors.
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men → say → boxing
A spokesperson for Trump Jr.’s brother Eric said of Kremlev: “Eric has absolutely no clue who this person is, nor has never heard his name.”
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person → say → name
…and 91 more, not listed.
The Aporia
