DON JR.’S RED WEDDING

This Is Trump’s Most Jaw-Dropping Putin Scandal: Guru

Don Jr.’s latest wedding’s lavish party was provided by a fully paid-up oligarch.

An unlikely throughline can explain the Trump family’s astonishing ties to the Kremlin, according to political analyst David Rothkopf.

Appearing on the latest episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, Rothkopf discussed Monday’s bombshell ProPublica report that Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding to Bettina Anderson in May was financed by a prominent Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin.

The report revealed that Umar Kremlev, the head of the International Boxing Association, bankrolled the president’s son’s three-day private island extravaganza to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The revelation that a close Putin ally was involved in a wedding associated with the first family could explain why President Donald Trump declined to attend earlier this year, Rothkopf said.

“Trump didn’t go to this wedding,” he said. “I now believe, having read this story, that somebody said, ‘You can’t go to this wedding. You can’t go to a wedding that’s paid for by the Kremlin. This will cause you more problems than you need to have.’”

Rothkopf argued that Kremlev’s involvement pointed toward the “deeper, corrupt inner core of Trump and Trumpism” that has been around for quite some time.

“It’s always been Russia. And when did it start being Russia?” he said. “Forty years ago, when Trump started to realize that he could build big buildings in New York City and fill them with people who would never take the apartments, but who were buying the apartments in order to launder their money.”

The political guru explained that there were “many instances” of Trump welcoming Russian investments or financing in his buildings, including how Russian mobsters used Trump properties to launder money, as detailed in a 2017 report in The New Republic.

“He’s the head of the International Boxing [Association], and he’s really into boxing and some of the other things associated with it, like gambling. Well, who else is into that?” he asked.

Rothkopf emphasized that Trump and his son both share an interest in the “whole MMA thing,” and that boxing has been integral to the president’s past.

He highlighted Trump’s history in boxing promotion, including his relationships with Roy Cohn and controversial promoter Don King.

“This is who he is,” Rothkopf said. “This is why he celebrated July 4th with an MMA event on the South Lawn of the White House. This is when the war started in Iran; where was he? He was with Marco Rubio at an MMA event in Miami.”

“This is how his son, Barron, is so into the Tates and that whole world which is tied into MMA and boxing and corruption and Russia and oligarchs,” he concluded. “And it’s all tied together in this one story, and it’s so useful because it reminds us that the roots to this corruption run incredibly deep.”

Reached for comment, the White House Press Office shared a statement attributed to the president: “I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding. It was an ‘afterparty’ given in their honor. Not a big deal! I was not present at the party.”

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Vic VerbalaitisNight Breaking News Reporter

The Daily Beast Podcast

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