Trump says son paid back Russian oligarch for wedding gift

President Trump said Friday that his son Donald Trump Jr. paid back the Russian oligarch who funded some of his lavish wedding celebrations after concerns flared over ethics violations and potential influences from foreign adversaries.

President Trump was asked in the Oval Office whether it was appropriate that his son accepted the gift from Umar Kremlev after his wedding to socialite Bettina Anderson.

“Well, it’s totally allowed, and a lot of people have parties, and all, but it’s totally allowed,” he said. “But as I understand it, he paid him back. He didn’t want to have that, so I hear he paid him back.”

The amount was reportedly hundreds of thousands of dollars and went toward after-party affairs, including a private island in the Bahamas and a fireworks show, according to a ProPublica investigation published earlier this week.

A spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. didn’t deny the payments and said the oligarch, Umar Kremlev, was a friend of his.

In an Instagram post, the couple also defended the gift, calling it “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend.”

“A person that he knows, I guess a friend of his, gave him a wedding party — that’s very common,” President Trump said Friday. “I’ve heard of many people giving wedding parties.”

“I’ve given wedding parties for numerous people,” he added.

Kremlev is the head of the International Boxing Association, a controversy-plagued sports organization financed by Russia’s state-owned natural gas company, Gazprom.

He is also a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and reportedly traveled with him to China ahead of the wedding.

Democrats were quick to condemn the wedding gift, calling it corruption.