Donald Trump Jr. went hunting in the Mongolian wilderness with the Putin-connected oligarch who helped bankroll his wedding, according to a new report, reigniting the firestorm over their relationship.
Umar Kremlev, who runs the embattled International Boxing Association (IBA), flew to Mongolia on a chartered jet in late August and spent two days at Trump Jr.’s camp in the western province of Uvs, the Financial Times reported. Trump Jr. bagged an Altai argali, a rare wild sheep listed as endangered, during the outing, according to a local guide.
The paper reconstructed the meetup from flight records, social media posts, public documents and people on the ground. One person on the trip said the pair were “cautious” about being photographed together. Kremlev’s own videos show two of the organizers of Trump Jr.’s hunt, but never Trump Jr. himself.
The trip came three months after Kremlev covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs for the three-day Bahamas celebration of Trump Jr.’s marriage to Bettina Anderson, including a private island and a fireworks show. Anderson called it a gift from a friend, and President Donald Trump later claimed his son had repaid Kremlev.
Trump Jr.’s camp insists there’s nothing to see, describing a personal friendship built on hunting and fishing rather than business.
“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that they went hunting together earlier this year,” a spokesperson said.
Holden Triplett, who led counterintelligence at the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, warned the FT about the danger.
“It really doesn’t matter if people have the most above-board intentions,” Triplett said. “The moment the Russian security and intelligence services figure out someone has a relationship with anyone of high value, they will try to weaponize that.”
Pressure is also building on Capitol Hill, where Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) has pushed for a congressional investigation of Trump Jr. over the wedding payments.
The two men go back at least to September 2025, when they shared a stage at an IBA event in Istanbul with boxing great Manny Pacquiao and Rasheda Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali’s daughter.