Donald Trump Jr and Bettina Trump say Putin ally paid for some wedding festivities as a 'gift'

Donald Trump Jr and Bettina Trump say Putin ally paid for some wedding festivities as a 'gift'

Donald Trump Jr.'s wife, Bettina Trump, has confirmed that part of their May wedding was financed by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A post on her Instagram account, attributed to the couple, said that two nights of their three-day wedding celebrations on a private island in the Bahamas were partly paid for by Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch with close links to Putin.

The statement came out on Monday after investigative outlet ProPublica published a report saying Kremlev had covered "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in costs for the event.

Donald Trump Jr., one of the US president's sons, is a private citizen, so it is not illegal for him to receive gifts from a foreign national.

"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," the couple said in the statement.

Still, ethics watchdog groups said it created the appearance of a conflict of interest for the president's son to accept expensive gifts from someone linked to a foreign head of state, even if he is not a US government employee.

"People don't just give hundreds of thousands of dollars to a random acquaintance without wanting something," said Jordan Libowitz, vice president of communications for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

"You can see how [Putin] would enjoy all this press about how people in his circle are cozying up to people in the president's circle."

According to the ProPublica report, the couple married on a private island in the Bahamas, then held a two-day celebration on another island that rents for about $100,000 a night. The report also found that Kremlev paid for other party expenses, including a fireworks display costing roughly $70,000.

Kremlev heads the International Boxing Association (IBA), an organization financed by the state-backed Gazprom energy company. The Olympic Committee suspended the group partly because it failed to disclose its ties to the Russian energy giant.

Earlier this year, Kremlev was part of a delegation that traveled to China with Putin. ProPublica also reported that the Russian president gave Kremlev the Order of Friendship, a top state honor.

A spokesperson for Trump Jr. told the news outlet that the president's son and Kremlev were personal friends and did not have "a business relationship."

An ally of Trump Jr. referred the BBC to the Instagram statement.

In a statement to ProPublica, Kremlev's office said, "Mr. Kremlev and Mr. Trump Jr have a friendly relationship." The statement said the two men met a few years ago.

Kremlev attended part of the wedding, the outlet reported. Other guests included one of the US president's daughters, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who has worked for the US on diplomatic negotiations with Iran, Russia and in the Middle East.

The Trump campaign and family faced scrutiny over possible ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential election, which led to a special counsel investigation. During the campaign, Donald Trump Jr. arranged a meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian operative that was closely examined during the probe.

Libowitz of CREW said either the president, who is a billionaire, or Trump Jr., who is worth $300 million according to Forbes, could have paid for the entire wedding to avoid any conflict of interest.

"His father is worth billions he could have picked up the tab. Clearly they just didn't want to pay for it," Libowitz said. "They don't really care about the ethical ramifications."