Donald Trump Jr spent two days in August at a remote hunting camp in western Mongolia with Umar Kremlev, the Russian president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), the Financial Times reported on Oct. 27, 2026. The paper said the Trump Jr Mongolia trip also included an embassy-funded Secret Service hotel bill, hunting guests who won an auction, and a dinner with Mongolia’s president.
Where it stands: Through Oct. 28, members of Congress, the White House and the IBA had not been reported commenting on the FT story. Kremlev, and Arthur Martirosov, the businessman who flew in with him, gave the FT no reply when it sought comment.
Trump Jr’s side did not dispute the meeting. “Don has made clear that he has a personal friendship, not a business relationship, with Umar,” a spokesperson told the FT, adding that a friend they share from hunting circles made the introduction. The spokesperson said it “shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that they went hunting together earlier this year.”
The FT said it confirmed the details through guides, local officials, flight-tracking data, social media posts and public records. Several of its specific claims, including what happened inside the camp, rest on single unnamed sources, and other outlets had not independently confirmed them as of Oct. 28.
What did the FT report about the Trump Jr Mongolia trip?
The FT reported that Trump Jr flew into Ulaanbaatar in late August, made a journey of hundreds of miles to set up camp in Uvs province, and was joined there for two days by Kremlev, who arrived on a chartered jet from Kazakhstan on Aug. 27. Its reconstruction runs roughly as follows.
| When (2026) | What the FT reported |
|---|---|
| Late August | Trump Jr lands in Ulaanbaatar and travels west to a camp in Uvs province |
| Aug. 23 to Sept. 6 | Embassy pays for Secret Service hotel rooms (record does not name him) |
| Aug. 27 | Kremlev flies from Kazakhstan on a chartered jet; Arthur Martirosov is with him |
| Next two days | Kremlev in camp; a guide says Trump Jr killed an Altai argali |
| Following week | Ibex hunt in Bayan-Ölgii; one SCI auction winner and other guests join |
| End of trip | Dinner in Ulaanbaatar with President Khurelsukh |
According to the FT, a local on the trip said the two men were careful not to be photographed together in camp. Kremlev posted his own video on Telegram of his group getting ready for a hunt, and Trump Jr does not appear in it, the paper said. In a separate clip cited by the FT, Kremlev steps off a helicopter and says “the mountains are amazing.”
A guide told the FT that Trump Jr killed one Altai argali, a wild mountain sheep, during the stay. That claim comes from one person quoted by one newspaper. No permit or other record of a 2026 hunt has been made public.
Who is Umar Kremlev, according to the reporting?
Kremlev is a Russian businessman who has led the IBA since 2020. The FT describes him as having a criminal record and “close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal security service.”
The criminal-record claim needs care. The FT reports an extortion and battery conviction from early adulthood, “according to leaked criminal records obtained by the FT.” In September ProPublica, citing the Russian outlet Proekt, also reported a record for extortion and battery. Kremlev’s press office has rejected it: “Mr. Kremlev has a completely clean legal record,” it told ProPublica.
His sanctions status is narrower than some coverage suggests. ProPublica reported that Kremlev “does not appear on public U.S. sanction lists.” Ukraine, by contrast, has sanctioned him by name, the outlet said, pointing to his ties to Putin and to Russia’s security services. The full profile is in our explainer on who Umar Kremlev is.
Who else was connected to the trip?
The FT named four other people connected to the trip. All are private individuals, and the only public information about them is what the paper reported.
- Arthur Martirosov flew in with Kremlev. The FT called him “a partner in Voskhod, a US-sanctioned venture capital fund.” No outlet besides the FT has independently reported on his role. The State Department’s Voskhod designation, issued on “May 19, 2023,” names Voskhod Management Company, which it said manages a venture fund set up by the already-designated Russian firm Interros. Martirosov himself is not named in that action.
- Two auction winners. At a Safari Club International event in January 2025, an auctioneer pitched a week-long Mongolian hunt with Trump Jr by asking, “Will you beat $225,000?” That was a prompt from the stage, not a confirmed sale price. The FT said SCI confirmed one of its two winners joined the later ibex hunt.
- Kevin Small, whom the FT described as “a longtime Republican donor who has hunted with Trump Jr before.”
- Kaan Karakaya, a Turkish hunting organiser who, per the FT, has arranged Trump Jr’s Mongolia trips.
None of these people has been accused of wrongdoing by the FT or by any authority.
Did taxpayers pay for part of the trip?
A federal contract record shows the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar obligated $18,714.89 for “HOTEL ROOMS FOR USSS VISIT, 23 AUG – 6 SEP 2026.” USSS is the US Secret Service. The FT rounded that to $18,715.
The record does not name the person being protected. The FT is the outlet that tied it to Trump Jr’s trip, noting that as a member of the president’s family he travels with a Secret Service detail. The Secret Service had not commented publicly on the 2026 trip as of Oct. 28. Our breakdown of the Secret Service cost covers the statute and earlier bills.
📨 Get Free Accountability Coverage Alerts
Free · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime
What happened at the dinner with Mongolia’s president?
Back in Ulaanbaatar, Trump Jr had dinner with President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. According to the FT, photos from the evening went up on Facebook from a Mongolian government spokesperson, whose post said the conversation covered relations between the two countries and possible business opportunities, and that the post was taken down soon after.
Both sides now describe it as social. In the account Trump Jr’s camp gave the FT, the meal was unofficial and the talk was mostly about the outdoors. Khurelsukh’s spokesperson said the two “did not discuss politics or official visits.” No Mongolian news coverage of the dinner had been found as of Oct. 28. More in our report on the presidential dinner.
What is alleged, and what is not?
The FT reported a relationship and a trip. It did not report any business deal between Trump Jr and Kremlev, and as of Oct. 28 no government authority had been reported to allege that anyone on the trip broke a law.
The argali is the clearest example of where wording matters. The FT called it “an endangered sheep.” Mongolia’s own national review in 2009 put argali in its endangered category. The IUCN Red List, however, rates argali as Near Threatened, while under the US Endangered Species Act the Mongolian population carries the threatened label, one step below endangered. Hunting them is regulated, not banned outright.
The national-security concern raised in the FT is an opinion about risk, not a finding. Holden Triplett, the National Security Council’s counter-intelligence director in Trump’s first term, told the paper that once Russian services spot a relationship with “anyone of high value, they will try to weaponise that,” whatever the intentions of the people involved. ProPublica’s reporters, who first revealed Kremlev’s role in Trump Jr’s May wedding, have said they have “no specific evidence that Kremlev is operating on behalf of, like, the Russian security services.” Trump Jr’s spokesperson’s answer is that the bond is built on hunting, fishing and the outdoors.
The camp visit came about three months after that wedding and roughly two weeks before ProPublica reported, in mid-September, that Kremlev covered “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in celebration costs. The president has since said his son paid him back. See the full timeline of the relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Donald Trump Jr go hunting in Mongolia with Umar Kremlev?
The Financial Times reported on Oct. 27, 2026 that Kremlev spent two days at Trump Jr’s hunting camp in Uvs province in late August. Trump Jr’s spokesperson did not deny the trip and said the two men have a personal friendship, not a business relationship.
Is Umar Kremlev sanctioned by the United States?
No. ProPublica reported that he does not appear on public U.S. sanction lists. Ukraine has sanctioned him. The FT described a companion on the trip, Arthur Martirosov, as a partner in a US-sanctioned fund; the entity the State Department designated in 2023 is Voskhod Management Company.
Who paid for the Secret Service in Mongolia?
A federal purchase order shows the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar obligated $18,714.89 for Secret Service hotel rooms from Aug. 23 to Sept. 6, 2026. The record does not say who was being protected; the FT tied it to Trump Jr’s trip.
Was the sheep Trump Jr reportedly shot endangered?
The FT called it endangered, and a 2009 Mongolian government review used the same label. The IUCN classifies argali as Near Threatened, and Mongolian argali are classed as threatened, not endangered, under US law.
Has anyone accused Trump Jr of breaking the law on the trip?
As of Oct. 28, 2026, no government authority had been reported to allege any violation connected to the trip, and the FT did not allege one.
Sources
- Inside Donald Trump Jr’s Mongolian hunting trip with a Kremlin-linked businessman — Financial Times, October 27, 2026
- Donald Trump Jr.’s Bahamas Wedding Was Secretly Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch Close to Putin — ProPublica, September 14, 2026
- The Russian Benefactor Who Funded Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding — ProPublica (Paper Trail podcast), September 2026
- Purchase order 19MG1026P0228 — USAspending.gov (U.S. Treasury), signed August 20, 2026
- United States Imposes Additional Sanctions and Export Controls on Russia — U.S. Department of State, May 19, 2023
- 50 CFR 17.11: Endangered and threatened wildlife — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current as of October 28, 2026
- Argali Overview Report (UNEP/CMS/ARG/RS1/Doc.3) — Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS), August 12, 2024
This article is news reporting and analysis based on the public sources listed above, as they stood on the dates shown. Where officials, lawmakers or analysts disagree, including on whether an action is lawful, their positions are attributed to them; Donald Trump Class Action is not a court and nothing here is legal advice. Facts in a developing story can change.