Donald J. Trump Jr. Gets a Big Wedding Present from the Russians

 

Once again – Don Jr. loves Russians.

 

WHILE MOST AMERICANS are worrying about issues of affordability, I believe we can all band together, as patriots who love this nation, and celebrate the marriage of the president’s oldest son, Don Jr.’s to Bettina Anderson. That marriage is now entering a fifth blissful month. 

The ceremony, we have since learned, was a lavish, three-day affair, celebrated on two private islands in the Caribbean. But not any island previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein, which would be a relief. 

We also know that no expense was spared, with a helicopter, for example, airlifting a five-tiered cake from Florida. Or, as the new Mrs. Donald Trump Jr. put it on Instagram later: “It was everything we dreamed of and more.”  

Indeed, it was.

 

We have now learned, thanks to ProPublica, that a Russian oligarch named Umar Kremlev, chipped in with hundreds of thousands of dollars to make the newlyweds’ dreams – and more – come true. Kremlev paid to rent one of the islands. He paid for a massive fireworks show, and his team did much of the planning and paid the costs. After all, using helicopters to fly wedding cakes around isn’t cheap. 

On his own Instagram account, Don Jr. talked about how the guest list was “tight,” with only fifty persons in attendance. 

Yet Umar and a handful of Russians still made the cut. 

 

This blogger is not surprised – since he is not a clueless dolt, like most Trump apologists. He well remembers that Don Jr. had played footsie with Russians before. Junior, his brother-in-law Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager during his first run for office, all met with Russians in Trump Tower New York in June 2016. And a good time was had by everyone involved. 

This is not speculation or nonsense pretending to be news on X, where nonsense is rampant and pays. That meeting did occur, and even Don Jr. eventually admitted it had. Yet, none of the three American principles ever admitted that the meeting occurred – until the free press blew the lid off the story in July 2017, by which time Don Sr. was seated comfortably in the White House. 

If you cared to follow the story carefully, you would have learned that on November 9, 2016, the day after Trump shocked the world and won the presidency, his campaign organization received a congratulatory email from Vladimir Putin. Hope Hicks, soon to be chosen White House Communications Director, forwarded that very email to Kushner, asking, ‘Can you look into this? Don’t want to get duped but don’t want to blow off Putin!'” 

We now know, although Hicks didn’t, that Kushner had already had that meeting with Russians, and that Don Jr. was there, and Paul Manafort, too.

 

Yet, the very next day, Hick was allowed to go out in front of reporters’ cameras – again, the free press doing crucial work – and Hicks said this: “We are not aware of any campaign representatives that were in touch with any foreign entities before yesterday, when Mr. Trump spoke with many world leaders.” 

When pressed about possible links between the campaign and Russia, Hicks added: “It never happened. There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.”

Hicks was lying - but probably didn't know it.

 

* 

A blatant falsehood – the first of many. 

AT A BARE MINIMUM, these three top people in the campaign knew that Hicks was lying to the press, without knowing, although she may not have known it: 

Donald J. Trump Jr. 

Jared Kushner 

Paul Manafort 

 

For more than a year, the story of the secret meeting in Trump Tower remained untold until, again, the free press dug up the truth; and The New York Times had emails to prove it had occurred. 

Don Jr. had no choice now, but to tell the truth, but of course he didn’t. He lied to reporters again, and claimed that the meeting was all about American parents adopting Russian kids, who needed good homes. 

Then reporters for the Times pointed out that they had emails in their possession, indicating that the Russians had come to New York City offering to help Don Sr. defeat Hillary Clinton. In fact, they had promised to supply “dirt.” 

And Don Jr. had replied to the Russian offer, “I love it.” 

 So, if you are not an ill-informed numbskull, you understand, absolutely, that the Russians did interfere, or at least attempt to interfere, in the 2016 election. 

 

Today, we find that Don Jr. has not learned his lesson. Does he know that Kremlev is close to Vladimir Putin, the murderous autocrat who has killed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians since invading that country in 2022? Does Jr. realize that the Russians are currently helping arm Iran? Would Mr. or Mrs. Trump Jr. like to explain what they have had to do to win Umar’s friendship? And should any members of a president’s family be accepting lavish gifts from foreign players? 

As writers for ProPublica, explain, the dangers should be obvious. 

“If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired career FBI official who held senior counterintelligence roles. Oligarchs like Kremlev often act in coordination with the Russian government. While it’s unclear if that happened here, Trump Jr. put himself in a precarious position, Montoya said. “This should be unthinkable for the son of the president. End of story.”

 

Holden Triplett, who served as Trump’s counterintelligence director on the National Security Council during his first term, said Russian intelligence frequently seeks to build ties with U.S. government officials and their family members. “Money is a tried-and-true method to gain access,” said Triplett, who also worked for the FBI in Moscow.

 

In the days leading up to Trump Jr.’s wedding, Kremlev was in China as part of the delegation accompanying Putin [emphasis added], according to Chinese state media. …

 

It’s not clear why Kremlev helped pay for Trump Jr.’s wedding. The men appear to have met only recently. Public reporting suggests Trump Jr. could have afforded it himself, with Forbes recently estimating his net worth at roughly $300 million.  

 

So now we can add in the Chinese, who are also doing their best to arm Iran and keep damaging our military. 

In fact, ProPublica notes in its reporting, Donald Trump Jr. did not dispute the fact that payments were made. 

He and Umar are just “close friends.” 

Junior’s dad, the President of the United States suggested yesterday that his “Honest Abe” son, Don, had paid back the Russian billionaire. But we know that Don Jr. and Don Sr. have lied about Russians before. 

In fact, President Dad wasn’t worried at all, telling reporters gathered in the Oval Office, “It’s totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all. But, as I understand it, he paid them back.” 

The he added, “I hear he paid them back,” without elaborating. 

 

FUN FACT: If we step back in time, we know the story of the Trump Tower meeting became a focus of the Mueller Report; and we know that President Trump eventually admitted that it had occurred. 

Notice how similar this “tweet” sounds, compared to today’s tall tales about wedding bliss and good friends with Russians: 

  

FUN FACT #2: At least one Republican senator, John Curtis of Utah, understands what Junior didn’t, or did, but hoped not to get caught doing. In a video address on Friday, Curtis was blunt. “Believe this – a Russian oligarch paid for a lavish wedding afterparty for Donald Trump Jr., which to me, it just stinks. It's corruption. I don't like it.” 

He promised that he would have more to say on the matter, but for now asserted, “This is a big deal.”

 

FUN WITH SINGING GOATS: Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked by a pesky reporter yesterday what he thought of this Don Jr. wedding present news. Would he feel a need to launch an investigation? The reporter might as well have asked a goat to sing Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” 

Blanche seemed not to know how to launch an investigation at all – in line with his comments that he couldn’t find anyone in the Epstein Files to investigate, either. Blanche, of course, is still holding back millions of Epstein documents – despite the fact Congress voted overwhelmingly to order that all documents be revealed. That vote was 427 to 1 in the House of Representatives; and the motion to release everything passed by unanimous consent in the Senate. 

In any case, what did Blanche wish to say about this strange new wedding deal? 

Naturally, Blanche being Blanche, he started singing like a goat: “The president doesn’t know who this person is,” he began. 

Irrelevant, of course. Shouldn’t, the President want to study the matter? Or Does Don Sr. mot care if possible Russian secret agents, pal around with his boy? 

Blanche was just warming up his goat voice and bleated a second verse: “I think other members of the family don’t know who this person is ... When you say am I investigating – Am I investigating what?” 

Irrelevant, again. It’s not a question of what other family members knew. Don Jr. knew – but didn’t let the public know, and so the free press had to dig up the truth. And now the goat not only sounded like a goat trying to do what no goat could, the goat sounded clueless and stupid – even for a goat. 

“Am I investigating what?” Todd wondered. 

You stupid barnyard animal: You’re going to investigate the Russian billionaire, and find out what he was doing, paying wedding expenses for the son of the President of the United States. 

Jesus. 

Listen: We don’t care if Tiffany Trump didn’t know who this deep-pocketed, foreign benefactor was? It doesn’t matter if President Trump’s grandchildren didn’t know. Indeed, the First Lady was quick to make it clear that she did not know who Kremlev was. I believe her myself; but what might she know or suspect that made her feel like she should distance herself? 

In fact, Umar Kremlev has been accused of working with Russian organizations that abduct Ukrainian children under cover of war. 

So, there’s a lead, you could follow, Todd, if only you weren’t a dumb goat. Instead of wasting time trying to catch “vandals” who damaged President Trump’s beautiful new Reflecting Pool, and getting your cases thrown out by grand juries and judges, dig down into Kremlev’s background. Be sure he’s not doing Putin’s bidding at America’s expense. You might even ask how a Russian oligarch, with close ties to the Kremlin got close enough to the Caribbean Sea in the first place, to attend the nuptials. 

But no. You’re a goat. 

So, you just keep singing like a goat. “The president’s son has said that he’s a very close friend and that he accepted a gift the weekend of his wedding. And when you say this person is a friend of Putin, I don’t even know if that’s true or not.” 

Fuck. Can you just check? 

“I don’t have any information. I don’t know this person either,” the goat finished up with a final bleat. “So, I don’t have any information about it.” 

With that, the Attorney General of the United States was done for the day, and we were soon assured by White House sources, as well as the President of the United States. Not to worry. Don Jr. paid the Russian back. 

(After he got caught.) 

A goat would make a better attorney general.

 

FUN FACT WITH PEOPLE WHO HATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT: We have all heard this president call reporters “scum,” “liars,” “losers” and “Enemies of the People.” But even a MAGA person can probably understand why we don’t want people in our government taking lavish gifts from foreigners. 

Sometimes known as “bribes.” 

President Trump, however, is pioneering a new way to muzzle the free press so that if anyone in his administration does wrong (see, for example, Kristi Noem), you are less and less likely to find out. He has now banned reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from entering the White House at all.