FT: Donald Trump Jr. hunted in Mongolia with Kremlin-linked businessman Umar Kremlev

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of US President Donald Trump, spent two days this summer at a hunting camp in Mongolia with Umar Kremlev, a Russian businessman with close ties to the Kremlin, the Financial Times reported on October 27.

According to the FT, Trump Jr. flew into Ulaanbaatar in late August and travelled hundreds of kilometres to a camp in Uvs province, where he stayed with a small group of hunting guides, drivers and cooks. Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association, left an IBA press conference in Kazakhstan on August 27, flew overnight to Ulaanbaatar on a chartered jet and then travelled to Trump Jr.'s camp. He was accompanied by Arthur Martirosov, a Russian businessman and partner in Voskhod, a US-sanctioned venture capital fund.

The newspaper based its account on local guides and officials, flight-tracking data, social media posts and public records. A local on the trip told the FT that Trump Jr. and Kremlev were careful not to be photographed together at the camp. After two days Kremlev returned to Ulaanbaatar and left for Yakutsk, while Trump Jr. stayed another week and hunted Altai ibex in Bayan-Ölgii province. According to one guide, he shot an endangered Altai argali during the trip. After the hunt Trump Jr. returned to Ulaanbaatar and held an informal meeting with President U. Khurelsukh, the newspaper said.

As a member of the president's family, Trump Jr. travels with a Secret Service protective detail. Federal records show the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar paid $18,715 for hotel rooms for an unspecified Secret Service "visit" from August 23 to September 6.

Kremlev's role in paying for part of Trump Jr.'s May wedding on a private Caribbean island was first reported by ProPublica, after which President Trump said his son had repaid him. "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," a spokesperson for Trump Jr. told the FT. Kremlev and Martirosov did not respond to the newspaper's requests for comment.

Mongolian users shared the report on X, and one asked how many permits for hunting rare animals are issued each year.