First Lady Melania Trump is distancing herself from reports that a Russian oligarch helped pay for Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson’s lavish wedding celebration.
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The first lady’s representatives issued a statement to The Daily Mail in response to reports that Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson’s lavish wedding celebration was paid for in part by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the celebration.
“Mrs. Trump does not, and has never had, a relationship with Mr. Kremlev,” a spokesperson for the first lady told the Daily Mail. “Mrs. Trump played no role whatsoever in organizing the wedding event and was not privy to any aspect of its financial planning.”
President Donald Trump’s eldest son and his second wife married in Palm Beach, Florida, before departing for a wedding party on a private island in the Bahamas in late May, and the couple has since acknowledged that Kremlev, who has been accused of facilitating the abduction of Ukrainian children, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the celebration.
The president and Melania skipped the festivities as the war with Iran escalated.
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Kremlev’s involvement has drawn scrutiny because he helps lead the Russian organization Healthy Fatherland, under Ukrainian sanctions over its alleged role in relocating Ukrainian children from occupied territories under the guise of “rehabilitation,” per a ProPublica report published Monday — an issue personal to the first lady.
Melania Trump has led a campaign to reunite Ukrainian children abducted and taken to Russia during the war. In August, the president hand-delivered a personal letter from her to Putin on the issue, and Putin responded in writing, pledging to engage with her directly. That effort has helped reunite 34 children with their families in Ukraine.
Eric Trump also denied any familiarity with Kremlev, his spokesman saying Eric “has absolutely no clue who this person is, nor has never heard his name.”
Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association, hosted Trump Jr. for a panel on boxing in Istanbul in December. His press office told ProPublica the two bonded over shared interests in boxing, hunting and the outdoors.
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