Donald Trump Jr. spent two days at a Mongolian hunting camp with Umar Kremlev

Donald Trump Jr. joined a hunting trip in western Mongolia in late August that included Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association and former head of the Russian Boxing Federation. The Financial Times reported the gathering after reviewing flight data, social media posts, public documents and accounts from local guides and officials. Kremlev, 43, flew by charter plane from Kazakhstan to Ulaanbaatar before traveling to the camp in the western part of the country. Russian businessman Arthur Martirosov, a partner in the US-sanctioned venture fund Voskhod, accompanied him.

One local participant in the trip said Trump Jr. and Kremlev avoided appearing together in photographs while at the camp. The two men spent two days together before Kremlev returned to Ulaanbaatar. A spokesperson for Trump Jr. said the relationship grew out of shared outdoor interests and began through a mutual acquaintance in the hunting community. "Don has made clear that he has a personal friendship, not a business relationship, with Umar," the spokesperson said. "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 trip to Mongolia came after several months of public attention on Kremlev's ties to the Trump family. Kremlev has said he paid for post-wedding celebrations for Donald Trump Jr. and that the money was later returned as a gift. US Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an earlier statement that he would not open an investigation into the wedding financing. Members of President Donald Trump's family have said they do not know Kremlev, while Democrats on Capitol Hill have said they plan to examine the matter.

During the Mongolia trip, Donald Trump Jr. hunted an Altai argali, a wild sheep classified as endangered, and met with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh. Holden Triplette, who served as director of counterintelligence on the National Security Council during Trump's first term, said contacts between the president's family and people connected to Russian authorities carry risk regardless of intent. "It really doesn't matter if people have the most above board intentions," Triplette said. "The moment the Russian security and intelligence services figure out someone has a relationship with anyone of high value, they will try to weaponise that."

No further action on the matter is scheduled. Democrats in Congress have said they intend to investigate the wedding financing, and no date for hearings or document requests has been set.