- Megan Cooney | Columnist
- Sep 17, 2026 Updated 7 mins ago
Some events we are witnessing nowadays grossly defy what is normal ethics. Such as the president’s eldest son accepting an over-the-top gift from a Russian oligarch to finance a lavish post-wedding party.
Donald Trump Jr. and Florida socialite Bettina Anderson wed May 21 in West Palm Beach. But the newlyweds celebrated for two days afterward on a private island in the Bahamas with family and friends, including Umar Kremley, the sporty fat-cat who picked up the tab.
President Trump did not attend the wedding or the pricey after party. But he and his son saw nothing wrong with Donald Jr. enjoying the benevolence of Kremley, who is friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
No Trump social media posts — until ProPublica broke the story nearly four months after the wedding and other news outlets quickly followed. “It was an after-party given in their honor,” the president told the New York Times in a statement. “Not a big deal.”
Kremley serves as president of the Russia-friendly International Boxing Association among other ventures. He might differ with President Trump’s characterization. The post-wedding party expenses included renting the private island, where guests also stayed, at a reported $100,000 per night, and an estimated $70,000 fireworks display.
The issue isn’t whether wealthy people choose to host costly celebrations. Those with substantial means are free to spend their money however they wish. The question is whether a son of a sitting president should accept a big financial gift from a foreign figure whose interests could influence the Trump administration on behalf of an adversary government.
The scale of the event underscores the issue. According to wedding planning website The Knot, the average U.S. wedding cost, including the after party, was approximately $33,000 in 2025. No one would expect a member of the Trump family to host an average wedding celebration.
But the source of the funding matters more on the ethical scale than the opulent Bahaman Island party. Other presidential children have married in the modern age; how did those couples and their families handle wedding reception expenses?
Since the early 1970s, three daughters of sitting presidents have married. The trio includes Tricia Nixon in 1971, Dorothy “Doro” Bush, daughter of George H.W. Bush in 1992, and Jenna Bush, daughter of George W. Bush, in 2008. The Nixon wedding raised just a few ethical eyebrows at the time for not listing gifts received from foreign governments.
Tricia’s wedding was held in the Rose Garden, the only wedding of this group held at the White House; Dorothy Bush married at Camp David, the Maryland presidential retreat, and Jenna Bush married at the family ranch in Texas. Different venues but their weddings shared a straightforward approach to costs: their families footed the bills.
Donald Jr.’s decision is being judged against that precedent and thus generated criticism because of his Russian bestower. In coming to his defense, President Trump claimed he’d never personally known or met Umar Kremley. Donald Jr. said they became friends due to mutual interest in boxing and hunting.
Had the bride and groom or their families chosen to bankroll the afterparty, critics might have questioned its extravagance, but the concern likely would have ended there. Rich folks hosting extravagant parties are normally not a national worry.
Not this time. The right or wrong of a sitting president’s son accepting a bounteous wedding gift from a potential Russian influencer rightly raised questions, starting with: What does the donor expect in return, beyond a thank you note?
Megan Giles Cooney is a columnist for the Traverse City (MI) Record-Eagle. Reach her atmegangilescooney@gmail.com
