2016 November, Russia helped swing the election for Donald Trump. Russia’s involvement in the election especially concerns because it may have been enough to swing his win. For example, Russian hackers stole emails from both Hillary Clinton and John Podesta and released them through WikiLeaks just before Election Day. This could have swayed the vote count by encouraging voters who didn’t prefer Trump to stay home or even convincing voters who preferred Clinton that their vote wouldn’t matter anyway.
Trump and the Russians
The story of Trump and the Russians started in 2013 when Donald Trump visited Russia for a business event that was broadcast on Russian television. He’s not the first American businessman to visit Russia. Americans had been doing business with Russia since the early 1990s, which included everything from importing vodka to running defense contracts. But by 2013, as many as 20 million Americans had little to no contact with Russia. They knew nothing about Russia except what they had heard on the news or read in the New York Times.
As a television host and media commentator, I knew that Trump was a unique candidate for Russian intelligence services. If the Russians wanted to influence an American election, Trump was the perfect candidate. And they were willing to spend billions of rubles to do just that.
At first, Trump didn’t know what was happening. He later said he’d been flattered by the attention from Russian intelligence officials. But in reality, he was clueless. Trump didn’t know when the Russians were trying to recruit him. Nor did he realize their real intentions when they planted stories in American publications alleging that he had met with Russian intelligence officials.
The Russian intelligence effort to recruit Trump began in 2013. That was when the Russians could have just turned on the television and watched one of his shows to find out what kind of person he was. It wasn’t difficult to find out that Trump liked talking about sex, hated people who didn’t pay him enough money. And felt that any publicity was good publicity. Over time, his personality became even more visible because he decided to run for President.
Russian Intelligence and Donald Trump
From 2013 forward, Donald was a perfect target for Russian intelligence operations. It didn’t matter that he was running for President as a candidate with no coherent political platform. He was just as vulnerable as a normal businessperson trying to build his brand.
In the summer of 2015, he launched what he described as an exploratory committee to consider running for President. In fact, it was an opportunity for Russian intelligence to recruit him and begin planning how they could influence the election by helping his campaign.
The Russians would easily gain access to various offices and files in Trump Tower, and his children were willing participants in all of this activity. This is because his children have no political understanding of what’s happening in the world. They are not educated about how governments work, nor are they aware of the importance of cyberattacks on political organizations.
By 2015, Trump himself had little knowledge about what was happening in politics on a day-to-day basis, but he was happy to meet with anyone who could help his business interests. He didn’t care that some of these people were Russian intelligence officers.
Trump work with Russia
Russian intelligence officials first briefed Trump on how they could help his business interests. He quickly jumped on board. The Russians offered to help the Trump Organization expand its real estate holdings in Moscow, to help with selecting apartments for rental properties, and even with marketing condos for sale at lower prices.
Trump was shown marketing documents for the proposed Trump Tower in Moscow. The Trump Organization was given floor plans for this building. Some of these designs were used six months later on the websites of Russian intelligence organizations. They were set up to attack the election.
Trump didn’t need any convincing to work with Russia because he’d already established a working relationship with them before he began running for President. He knew some key members of Putin’s inner circle, starting with his business partner Aras Agalarov. He also knew Putin’s chief economic adviser, Sergei Glazyev.
Trump’s relationship with Agalarov began in 2013 when he was first invited to speak at a real estate forum in Moscow. Trump appeared on a panel moderated by Aras Agalarov. The two hit it off so well that Trump later went on to appear as a guest star at one of Agalarov‘s son’s birthday parties. In November 2013, Trump released a music video featuring several Russian models. Titled “Miss Universe,” the video featured on-screen text in Russian that said that Trump had handpicked all the women who appeared in the video.
Agalarov also was an executive producer of the 2013 Miss USA pageant, at which Trump was crowned its President. Agalarov later sent out invitations for several of Trump’s events during the presidential campaign, including his presidential address to Republicans at their national convention in Cleveland.
Trump on a business with Russians
According to The New York Times, “Russian oligarchs are buying expensive condos in his buildings, enlisting his lawyers to fight their legal problems, and making investments through one of his partners.” Firtash also partnered with Trump on a business project in Vegas.
Not only did Russia help Donald with the election, but they also helped him gain financial success. As Russians are finding out, they are able to make significant investments in American companies by purchasing these companies’ shares. This is not something to be taken lightly. Russians are interested in doing business with the United States. Trump’s approval of their business dealings, which has created a positive environment for them. Also, Putin is backing Trump because he wants “greater stability” after the election. This means that Putin wants Trump’s policies to be put into effect. Which would mean that Russia will have greater influence in America than it has had before.
Russia has invested millions of dollars into Trump’s real estate ventures. That was included a Trump-branded condo project in Toronto that a Russian-Canadian billionaire is building. It is possible for Russians to legally purchase shares in American companies. That gives them a significant amount of power over these companies and the potential to control the government.
