Donald Trump Jr. hunted in Mongolia with Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, linked to the Kremlin

An August hunt in Mongolia

The Financial Times reports that Donald Trump Jr. spent part of August hunting in Mongolia with Umar Kremlev, a Russian businessman with close ties to the personal security service of President Vladimir Putin. The FT investigation, published on 27 October, draws on guides, local officials, flight-tracking data, social media posts and public records. The two men spent two days together in the Mongolian wilderness. According to a source cited by the paper, they deliberately avoided being photographed together, and none of the images Kremlev posted online show Trump Jr. The paper describes Kremlev as a businessman with a criminal record.

Argali and companions

A guide told the FT that Trump Jr. killed one Altai argali, an endangered sheep prized for its large horns, during the trip. The FT reports that he has shot at least two other argali on hunting trips in Mongolia since 2019. Trump Jr. arrived in Ulaanbaatar in late August and travelled hundreds of kilometres to a camp in Uvs province. As a member of the president's family, he was accompanied by a Secret Service escort. Federal records show that the US Embassy in Mongolia paid $18,715 for the protection team's hotel rooms from 23 August to 6 September. Arthur Martirosov, a Russian businessman linked to the Vojhod investment fund, which is under US sanctions, also joined the hunting parties.

Wedding payments and sanctions

ProPublica was first to report that Kremlev helped pay for Trump Jr.'s wedding in May on a private island in the Bahamas. The outlet says he paid $100,000 to rent the island where the reception was held and a further $70,000 for a fireworks show. After that report, President Donald Trump said that his son had repaid Kremlev. ProPublica also links Kremlev to Healthy Fatherland, an organisation that Ukraine has sanctioned over alleged involvement in moving Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia. Russian investigative site Proekt reported that Kremlev was once a member of the pro-Kremlin Night Wolves motorcycle club and was convicted of extortion and assault in the 2000s. Kremlev is chairman of the International Boxing Association.

Private island rental100,000

Fireworks show70,000

Private island rental

100000 USD

Fireworks show

70000 USD

Data from the article text

Denials and warnings

A spokesperson for Trump Jr. denies any business relationship, describing the two men as personal friends introduced by a mutual friend in the hunting world. The spokesperson said their friendship rests largely on a shared love of hunting, fishing and the outdoors. Intelligence experts warn that such ties can be exploited. Holden Triplett, who was counter-intelligence director on the US National Security Council during Trump's first term, put the risk plainly.

“It really doesn't matter if people have the most above board intentions.”

Trump was reportedly angry about his son's ties to the Russian businessman, given the possible impact on Republican candidates in the 3 November partial elections, according to The Wall Street Journal.