On January 16, 2017, Megan Twohey and Steve Eder of the New York Times penned the following report, “For Trump, Three Decades of Chasing Deals in Russia.”
Excerpts:
“As the Russian market opened up in the post-Soviet era, Mr. Trump and his partners pursued Russians who were newly flush with cash to buy apartments in Trump Towers in New York and Florida, sales that he boasted about in a 2014 interview. “I know the Russians better than anybody,” Mr. Trump told Michael D’Antonio, a Trump biographer who shared unpublished interview transcripts with The New York Times.”
“Seeking deals in Russia became part of a broader strategy to expand the Trump brand worldwide. By the mid-2000s, Mr. Trump was transitioning to mostly licensing his name to hotel, condominium and commercial towers rather than building or investing in real estate himself. He discovered that his name was especially attractive in developing countries where the rising rich aspired to the type of ritzy glamour he personified.”
“While he nailed down ventures in the Philippines, India and elsewhere, closing deals in Russia proved challenging. In 2008, Donald Trump Jr. praised the opportunities in Russia, but also called it a “scary place” to do business because of corruption and legal complications.”
“Mr. Sater said that American hotel chains that had moved into Russia did so with straightforward agreements to manage hotels that other partners owned. Mr. Trump, by contrast, was pursuing developments that included residential or commercial offerings in which he would take a cut of sales, terms that Russians were reluctant to embrace.”
“Even so, Mr. Trump said his efforts put him in contact with powerful people there. “I called it my weekend in Moscow,” Mr. Trump said of his 2013 trip to Moscow during a September 2015 interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” He added: “I was with the top-level people, both oligarchs and generals, and top of the government people. I can’t go further than that, but I will tell you that I met the top people, and the relationship was extraordinary.”
Trump’s Hopes for Moscow Deals Fail to Break Ground
“Donald J. Trump has made repeated efforts over 30 years to build or invest in hotels and luxury housing in Moscow. It never quite happened.”
July 1987
July 1991
Mid-2000s
May 2008
tweeting:
Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow – if so, will he become my new best friend?
Sept. 2013
As per a 7/8/16 Mother Jones article, “Putin was a no-show, but he did send Trump a nice note and a decorative box.”
“After returning to New York (from Moscow), Trump bragged to Real Estate Weekly that “The Russian market is attracted to me,” and, “I have a great relationship with many Russians, and almost all of the oligarchs were in the room.” He also gave the Agalarovs a special thank you on Twitter:
As per a 7/11/17 New York Magazine article, “Later that month Emin released his video for “In Another Life,” in which he falls asleep during a board room meeting, dreams about Miss Universe contestants frolicking in his apartment, then wakes up to an angry Donald Trump. He delivers his signature line at the time: “You’re fired.”
“The Trumps continued their relationship with the Agalarovs long after the pageant. In March Emin told Forbes that he performed for Trump at one of his golf courses and was in his New York office shortly before he launched his campaign (2015). After Trump won the presidential election, Emin congratulated him on Instagram and posted a video he sent him in 2014 for his 35th birthday.”
“Emin said Trump sent him and his father handwritten notes thanking them for their congratulatory messages, and claimed he’d exchanged messages with Trump Jr. in January.”
“He also said they planned to build a Trump Tower right next to an Agalarov Tower in Moscow, and had picked out the land and signed a letter of intent with the team in New York. “
Gronda Morin 