Donald Trump Jr. went hunting in Mongolia with a Kremlin-linked Russian businessman who helped bankroll his wedding
Donald Trump Jr. went hunting in Mongolia with a Kremlin-linked Russian businessman who helped bankroll his wedding
Donald Trump Jr., 48, the son of U.S. President Donald Trump, traveled to Mongolia in August 2026 to hunt, spending two days there with Umar Kremlev, head of the International Boxing Association and a businessman close to the Kremlin, the Financial Times found.
Umar Kremlev, whose real surname is Lutfulloyev, has led the International Boxing Association (IBA) as its president since 2020. Under him, the organization has received tens of millions of dollars from Gazprom. In 2023, the International Olympic Committee stripped the IBA of the right to hold Olympic boxing tournaments, citing, among other reasons, a lack of transparency in its finances.
In 2024, Kremlev became the new owner of the car dealership Rolf, which had previously belonged to businessman Sergei Petrov and had been placed under temporary management by a decree from Putin. The Russian investigative outlet Proekt reported that Kremlev acquired Rolf because of his friendship with Alexey Rubezhny, head of the Russian president’s security service. Kremlev also obtained a number of assets in the lottery and bookmaking businesses through that same friendship, Proekt wrote.
Kremlev is also tied to the Trump family. In September 2026, it emerged that he had paid part of the costs of Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding in the Bahamas, and Democrats in the U.S. Congress launched an investigation. Trump Sr. later said that his son had repaid the money to Umar Kremlev.
A charity auction raffled off the trip to Mongolia in the company of the U.S. president’s son. One of the winners did join Trump Jr. to hunt mountain sheep. Kremlev, who did not take part in the auction, also joined the trip, along with longtime Republican Party donor Kevin Small.
Trump Jr. flew into the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, in late August, after his wedding on a private island in the Caribbean Sea — a wedding Kremlev partly funded. He then traveled several hundred kilometers to a camp in western Mongolia, where he stayed with a small group of hunting guides, drivers, and cooks. Kremlev joined him there, accompanied by Arthur Martirosov, a businessman and partner at the venture fund Voskhod, which is under U.S. sanctions.
On August 30, Kremlev posted two videos to his Telegram channel. In one, he says he is flying to Mongolia with Martirosov, while in another he shows footage from the trip. In the caption, Kremlev asks, “How do you feel about hunting?”
One participant in the trip said Trump Jr. and Kremlev tried not to be photographed together while at the camp. Trump Jr. does not appear in Kremlev’s video either, though two organizers of his hunting trips do.
According to one guide, Trump Jr. killed an Altai argali — an endangered mountain sheep prized by hunters for its large horns — during the trip. After the hunt, he returned to the Mongolian capital. However, his trip did not end there — he held a series of other unofficial meetings, including a dinner with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh.
As a member of the president’s family, Trump Jr. traveled with a U.S. Secret Service detail. The U.S. Embassy in Ulaanbaatar paid $18,715 for hotel rooms linked to an unspecified “visit” by Secret Service agents from August 23–September 6.
A representative for Trump Jr. said a mutual friend from hunting circles introduced him to Umar Kremlev. “Don has made clear that he has a personal friendship, not a business relationship, with Umar. Their friendship is largely based on their shared love for hunting, fishing and the outdoors. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that they went hunting together earlier this year,” the representative added.
However, intelligence experts polled by the FT believe these relationships create favorable conditions for manipulation.
“It really doesn’t matter if people have the most above board intentions,” said Holden Triplett, former director of counterintelligence at the U.S. National Security Council. “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.”
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