Trump's brain-damaged little son shot protected animals in the company of Russian oligarchs

Donald Trump Jr., the son of the demented boss, went hunting in Mongolia with Umar Kremlev, a Russian businessman close to Putin's circle who had previously helped cover the costs of his wedding celebrations. According to the spokesperson for the US president's son, the two men are connected merely by their shared love of hunting, fishing and nature, but counterintelligence experts see a far less cozy story behind their joint adventures.

The mere fact that the US president's son goes hunting would hardly raise anyone's eyebrows. What does raise eyebrows is who he goes with, what favors he accepted from his hunting companion beforehand, and whose money is covering the bills for his social life. This time, alongside the Mongolian landscape and a shared love of nature, there was also a businessman with a criminal record who moves comfortably in Russian power circles — a man who had already turned up a few months earlier at the Caribbean wedding celebrations, both as a guest and as one of the financiers of the costs. Now comes the scandal uncovered by the Financial Times: Kremlev took part in Trump Jr.'s hunting trip to Mongolia in August, during which the president's son also killed an Altai argali (a wild sheep).

According to the spokesperson's explanation, there is no business relationship between the two men, only a personal friendship that, given their shared passions, should surprise no one. There is some truth to that last remark: in the stories surrounding the Trump family, it would truly count as an unexpected twist these days if someone recognized the conflict of interest in time and concluded that, while his father is heading an administration negotiating with Russia, perhaps he shouldn't be collecting hunting experiences with a businessman close to the Kremlin.

Holden Triplett, who served as the National Security Council's director of counterintelligence during Trump's first presidency, warned precisely about the security risks of this relationship. According to him, as soon as Russian intelligence services learn that a Russian citizen has personal access to someone of such significance, they try to exploit the opportunity — and for that, the friendship doesn't even need to have started as an intelligence operation, since a trust relationship that has already formed can be used later as well. What sounds like a reassuring detail in the spokesperson's explanation is, from a counterintelligence perspective, precisely the most sensitive part of the story. Shared hobbies, days spent together and favors accepted all build trust, and in a circle of friends things can be said that no one would say at an official meeting. A wedding invitation or a joint hunting trip can thus open doors that would be far harder to approach with a diplomatic badge, and this is not contradicted by the fact that those involved may genuinely believe they are simply enjoying themselves.

Kremlev's past and network of connections certainly warrant caution: as a young man he was convicted of extortion and assault, and in 2010 he changed his original surname, adopting the name Kremlev, a reference to the Kremlin. He later built a career in the world of boxing, while forging connections in business, police and security circles.

The trip to Mongolia also raised serious ethical questions in another way. At a Republican fundraising event, Trump Jr. put up two spots for auction, allowing the winners to join him on the hunting trip; according to reports, the bids ranged between $140,000 and $250,000. The organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics warned that selling personal access to power is troubling even when the proceeds go toward a political or charitable cause. The fact that the money is raised for some ostensibly noble purpose does not change what is actually being sold: a few days in the company of the US president's son.

The hunt did not win unanimous approval among conservationists either. The Altai argali is among the world's largest wild sheep: it can stand up to 135 centimeters tall, weigh more than two hundred kilograms, and according to reports its horns can span as much as 164 centimeters. It is a rare animal in need of protection, one that has already disappeared from a significant part of its former habitat. Trump Jr. also killed an argali in Mongolia back in 2019, and at the time ProPublica reported that he had only obtained the permit retroactively. The current expedition thus revived the story of that earlier special treatment, this time with a Kremlin-linked hunting companion adding a far more politically sensitive sequel.

There is no evidence that Kremlev used this relationship to influence American decisions, but the family cannot dismiss the security question simply by calling it a personal friendship, since it is precisely this personal closeness that gives such a relationship its value. The US president's son accepted a significant favor from a businessman with access to Putin's circle, and then spent his free time with him, all while his father is negotiating with Moscow — and while Washington, meanwhile, expects Europeans and Ukrainians to trust those negotiations. It would be somewhat easier if well-placed acquaintances from that same Russian power circle did not keep turning up again and again around the presidential family. Now at a wedding, now on a hunting trip, always strictly as private individuals, and of course always with the most innocent intentions imaginable.

Madness