President Donald Trump said Friday that his son Donald Trump Jr. has paid back a Russian oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin who the Trumps have confirmed hosted two nights of parties after Trump Jr.’s wedding. 

Trump was asked in the Oval Office on Friday whether it was appropriate for his son to have accepted the gift from Umar Kremlev. 

“Well, it’s totally, it’s totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all, but it’s totally allowed,” Trump said. “But as I understand it, he paid them back. He didn’t want to have that, so I hear he paid them back. A person that he knows pretty, I guess a friend of his, gave him a wedding party. That’s very common.”

ProPublica first reported on Kremlev’s gift to Trump Jr.

Lawmakers and critics have expressed concern over the gift. Some of them warned that accepting expensive gifts from foreign adversaries could create potentially severe conflicts of interest and potential leverage over the president’s family.

When pressed about Kremlev’s close ties to the Kremlin, Trump suggested that his son “didn’t do a background check.”

A reporter commented that it was the first the public had heard that Trump Jr. paid Kremlev back.

“No, I heard I heard about that. I actually heard that — when I heard the story, I asked about it. He said, ‘No, I’m paying it back, Dad.’ So, and that was a while ago,” Trump later added.

ABC News has asked the White House and The Trump Organization for evidence that Trump Jr. paid Kremlev back. 

Trump Jr.’s wife Bettina Anderson said in an Instagram post that Kremlev “very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding. It was an extraordinary gift from a friend and something for which were and remain incredibly grateful.”

Kremlev’s press office told ProPublica that “Mr. Kremlev and Mr. Trump Jr have a friendly relationship” and they first met “a couple of years ago.” ABC News has reached out to Kremlev for comment.