Trump defended his son's Russian wedding money in the Oval Office on Friday, then said it had already gone back. Reporters asked the President whether Donald Trump Jr. should have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Russian businessman Umar Kremlev. "That's very common; I've heard of many people giving wedding parties," Trump said. "With all of that being said, I understand that Don has paid him back."
He said it three ways in one appearance. "I hear he's paid him back," Trump told the room. "A person that he knows, I guess a friend of his, they gave him a wedding party." He called the payments "totally allowed," and volunteered that he has "given wedding parties to numerous people." The New York Times reported the refund as a plan. The Daily Mail wrote that Don Jr. had assured his father he intended to. Trump said both.
Nobody else says it happened.
Don Jr. has not confirmed the repayment. Kremlev has not confirmed it. Neither man has produced a wire, a receipt or a date, and Trump named no figure. Trump did not attend the wedding, the Times reported.
Don Jr. and his wife, Bettina, had spent the week defending the gift rather than returning it. They thanked their "dear friend Umar" in a statement she posted to Instagram. "Friendship doesn't require a political motive," they wrote. "Generosity doesn't automatically come with an agenda." They signed off in capitals: "NO CONSPIRACY, NO MYSTERY. Just a private family wedding, a wonderful weekend with friends and one hell of a party." They also called the island trip a separate, already planned weekend. Ethics experts told the Times that distinction does not matter.
