Confetti cake flown in from Florida, guests arriving in helicopters and seaplanes and staying overnight in exclusive beach villas on two private islands.
The May wedding between President Donald Trump's eldest son and Bettina Anderson was a lavish affair. The festivities lasted three days and ended with a giant fireworks display over the ocean while Trump Jr. lifted his bride into the air.
According to ProPublica, which reviewed documents and spoke to three sources familiar with the wedding, one of the guests was secretly responsible for several large expense items.
China with Putin
Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, head of the scandal-plagued, corruption-accused International Boxing Association (IBA) and with documented close ties to President Vladimir Putin, spent several hundred thousand dollars on the celebration. Among other things, he paid for the fireworks show and the rental of one of the islands.
Donald Trump Jr. himself has described the wedding as “very small, with only close friends.” The guest list for the festivities consisted of around 50 people: family members (though not President Trump), friends and then Kremlev, who, according to ProPublica, was part of a larger group of Russians whose presence puzzled the other guests.
Kremlev was part of the Russian delegation when Putin recently visited China. The connection between the Trump family and a person close to the Kremlin is raising concerns among Democrats and experts.
“Wedding gift”
"If I pay for your wedding, sooner or later you will owe me something. This should be unthinkable for a son of the president. Period," former FBI agent Frank Montoya Jr. told ProPublica.
"Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the president's son. What did he get in return? We need answers," writes Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia on X.
The bride and groom confirm Kremlev's contribution - and respond to the criticism.
"Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebration for us AFTER our wedding. It was a phenomenally generous wedding gift from a friend, for which we were and remain incredibly grateful," they write on Instagram.
