Donald Trump Jr. spent several days in Mongolia with Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, who is close to President Vladimir Putin, the Financial Times reports. The meeting took place during a summer hunting trip by the US president's son.
In August, Trump Jr. arrived in Ulaanbaatar, from where he traveled to a hunting camp in Uvs province. There he shot an Altai Argali - an endangered species. Since 2019, he has hunted at least two more argali in Mongolia.
The security cost $18,715
Because Trump Jr. is a member of the family of a sitting president, he was accompanied by US Secret Service officers. According to federal documents, the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar paid $18,715 for the costs of the security guard's stay between August 23 and September 6.
The Kremlin, who heads the International Boxing Association, arrived in Mongolia after a press conference in Kazakhstan. According to the Financial Times, he traveled on an overnight charter flight. He was accompanied by Artur Martirosov — partner in the Russian venture fund “Voskhod“, which is under US sanctions.
Sources of the publication claim that Trump Jr. and Kremlymov avoided being photographed together. The two spent two days in the same area, after which Kremlymov returned to Ulaanbaatar and traveled to Yakutsk for a boxing match. Trump Jr. stayed in Mongolia for about a week and visited the Bayan-Ulgiy region.
Meeting with the President of Mongolia
After the hunting trip, Trump Jr. returned to Ulaanbaatar, where he had dinner with the President of Mongolia, Ukhnagiey Khurelsukh. A representative of the Mongolian government initially published photos of the meeting and indicated that bilateral relations and business opportunities were discussed. The post was later deleted.
A representative of the US president described the dinner as an informal meeting dedicated to a vacation in nature.
The first known meeting between Trump Jr. and Kremlin was in 2025 in Istanbul during an event with the participation of boxer Manny Pacquiao. At that time, the son of the US president called the Russian businessman “not only a leader, but also a friend“.
The relationship between the two attracted attention
The reports of the joint trip to Mongolia come a few weeks after an investigation by ProPublica, according to which Kremlin paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for expenses related to Trump Jr.'s wedding celebrations in the Bahamas. The publication said the payments included renting a private island and other large expenses for the festivities.
After the publication, a representative for Trump Jr. said that Kremlev was his personal friend, not a business partner. Kremlev himself later said that Trump Jr. reimbursed him for the money spent on the wedding festivities.
Sources: focus-news.net, propublica.org, thedailybeast.com