President Donald Trump acknowledged Friday that his eldest son may not have conducted a background check before accepting lavish wedding celebrations from a Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin.
Asked in the Oval Office whether it was appropriate for Donald Trump Jr. to accept the gift, Trump insisted it was “totally allowed” and repeatedly claimed he had heard his son reimbursed oligarch Umar Kremlev.
“As I understand, he paid him back,” Trump said. “He didn’t want to have that. So I hear he paid him back.”
Trump described Kremlev only as “a person they know” and “a friend” before making an eye-opening admission when reporters continued grilling him.
“Well, I don’t know,” Trump said. “Maybe he didn’t do a background check.”
The president repeatedly insisted that paying for another person’s wedding festivities was “very common.”
“I’ve given wedding parties to numerous people,” Trump said Friday. “They get married, I give them a party. I give them parties at beautiful places like Mar-a-Lago and others.”
“With all of that being said,” Trump added. “I understand that Don’s paid him back. I actually heard that.”
ProPublica reported this week that Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the festivities, including a private-island rental and fireworks display.