Trump calls the arrangement “totally allowed” and says Kremlev was repaid
President of the United States, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office
“It's totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all. But, as I understand it, he paid them back. I hear he paid them back. That's very common. I've given wedding parties to numerous people.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
The AP's report, read in full on 2026-09-22, of Trump's remarks to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, September 18, 2026, updated 6:28 PM EDT. It also quotes Trump saying he had given "wedding parties to numerous people" himself.
Before the quotation
Trump did not attend the wedding or the celebration, saying at the time he was too busy.
After the quotation
Trump did not provide details on how or when Kremlev was repaid.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: Kremlev funding a wedding-related celebration for Donald Trump Jr. is an ordinary, permissible gift, comparable to wedding gifts other people receive, and Kremlev has since been repaid.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to whether Donald Trump Jr.'s acceptance of a Kremlev-funded wedding celebration was improper, Trump now expressly defends the arrangement as permissible ("totally allowed") and normalizes it by comparing it to his own practice of giving wedding parties, rather than disputing that it happened or downplaying it as in his September 14 statement. It supersedes that statement because it is Trump's own account of the same episode, now accepting and defending facts (Kremlev's identity and involvement) that his earlier statement disputed.
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Should the Senate Judiciary Committee Subpoena Donald Trump Jr. Over His Kremlev-Funded Wedding Celebration?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
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Read the full case“A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else. Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden's foreign relationships. We should not unplug it now. The country should not have to accept one standard for the family of a Republican president and another for the family of a Democratic president. Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the White House changes hands.”Read statement
“spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the President's son. What did he get in return? We need answers.”Read statement
“I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding. It was an ‘afterparty’ given in their honor. Not a big deal! I was not present at the party.”Read statement