‘The View’: Joy Behar Delivers Sharp Message to Don Jr. After Russian Wedding Payment

Most of the cohosts of The View were fired up on Tuesday’s (September 15) episode when it came to the admission by Donald Trump Jr. and his new wife, Bettina Anderson, that they allowed a Russian oligarch to provide funding for their May 2026 wedding.

Whoopi Goldberg introduced the story, as moderator, and opened with a bit of cheek. “You Know Who’s son, Don Jr., you know him. He had a new bride named Bettina Anderson, and they got married. Remember, his daddy didn’t go? OK, so they have now both confirmed a report from ProPublica that Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who has ties to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, paid for some events during their wedding weekend in the Bahamas…. and the couple calls it, and this is my favorite, a generous gift from a friend.”

Joy Behar then said it’s not a “gift” but a “generous grift from a friend maybe.”

After reviewing footage of key Democrats, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, condemning the Trumps’ decision to accept this gift from a national foe, Behar joked, “I wish I knew him because I was thinking of renewing my vows, and I would like his number, frankly.”

Sara Haines then weighed in to add, “It’s absolutely a bad look. And what’s striking to me is that on the heels of the U.S. Open, these elite tennis players can’t even use their flag at the fear that the prestige of the international sport would legitimize the Putin regime, and then the president’s son can accept hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Russian businessman who is close to Putin…. There’s something right there that just doesn’t track for me.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin then offered her two cents, saying, “And keep in mind, as we are speaking, Putin and his regime are literally bombing civilians in Ukraine. They are slaughtering innocent civilians. It is an incredibly evil and rogue regime. But this individual, who I’ve never heard of — I don’t know any oligarchs — he was fresh off of a trip from China with Putin. He had just received an Order of Friendship Award from Putin a month prior. He’s sanctioned by the Ukrainian government, and he had a rap sheet from years past, according to ProPublica, for criminal extortion and bribery. This guy’s a crook. I remember, I didn’t invite a girlfriend to my wedding because I was worried she was going to drink too much and embarrass me. You don’t have to invite everyone to your wedding.”

After a joke about Griffin’s jilted friend, Sunny Hostin then listed out the reported expenditures of this oligarch, including $100,000 to rent the Bahamian island in question and $70,000 for a fireworks show that he didn’t attend. Hostin then added, “I think back to Hillary Clinton. It’s like everything she said came true.” She went on to add, “Tfact now that you have Donald Trump Jr. having this close relationship, I would say — because a friend that gives you [that kind of money], that’s a pretty good friend; man, I ain’t got friends like that, that means you’re pretty close — and this is the family grift. Jared Kushner got $2 billion from Saudi Arabia. You got Ivanka Trump getting all these Chinese patents from the government before anybody else. They’ve made hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars off the backs of the American people, and every Republican was so upset that Hunter Biden was on that Ukrainian company board [Burisma]. Where are the Republican voices that are upset about this? I don’t hear any.”

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Behar then offered a serious take, saying, “What really breaks me is that they are this particular group we’re talking about is outraged when a single mother on welfare is asking for assistance, or some needy person needs some money to help them get through life, they are outraged by that. And yet, this family has their hand out 24/7.” Behar then put an exclamation mark on her point with a message directed straight at Trump Jr. “You know what, Junior? Pick yourself up by your bootstraps.”

The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC