Top Oversight Democrat wants answers on Russian oligarch’s role in Trump Jr.’s wedding

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, pressed for answers on a Russian oligarch’s reported role in a wedding for one of President Trump’s sons.

According to a report published Monday by ProPublica, Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding in May received funding from Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who is linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The outlet reported that the oligarch paid for Trump Jr.’s wedding expenses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, citing records and three sources with knowledge of the event. For the president’s son’s big event, ProPublica reported, Kremlev helped rent an island and put up the money for a fireworks show.

“Why did a Russian oligarch close to Putin fund Trump Jr.’s wedding in the Bahamas?” Garcia wrote on social media Monday morning in a response to the ProPublica report.

“Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the President’s son. What did he get in return? We need answers,” he added.

Last December , Trump Jr. said that he was engaged at the White House holiday party in front of family, friends and guests. The president’s son called his engagement to Bettina Anderson, a Palm Beach, Fla., socialite, a “big win” for the end of 2025.

Trump Jr.’s wife, who now goes by Bettina Trump, clapped back at the ProPublica report in an Instagram post on Monday , saying that she and her husband “got married privately on” May 22, “surrounded ONLY by our family.”

“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,” she added later.

The Hill has reached out to Kremlev for comment.