Are President Donald Trump’s Kind Putin Words Only To Protect His Business Interests In Russia?
Are President Trump’s Kind Putin Words Only To Protect His Business Interests In Russia?
Is President Donald Trump treating Russian President Vladomir Putin with kid gloves because the new POTUS has business interests in Russia? In the wake of what TIME Magazine calls the firing of Michael Flynn as National Security Adviser, many are questioning the relationship of the Trump Administration to the former Soviet Union.
A number of media members have dismissed how much Donald Trump knows about doing business in Russia. And according to CNN, Trump has said that he has no business ties to Russia. In fact, on January 11th, 2017, Trump tweeted, “Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!”
In the same CNN article by Nelli Black and Curt Devine, Trump was noted to have owned the Miss Universe Contest and partnered with Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov, hosting it in Moscow in 2013. He tried, but failed, to built a Trump International Hotel and Tower, there in 2007. Trump Vodka was launched in Russia. And Trump sold a giant mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million. That would appear to be all there is, but there’s more.
According to a speech by Donald Trump, Jr., given in late 2008 to the Cityscape USA’s Bridging US and the Emerging Real Estate Markets Conference held in Manhattan (and reported by Global Travel Industry News) The Trump Organization has long identified Russia as an “emerging market” for its varied business interests.
This is what Don, Jr. said “The emerging world in general attributes such brand premium to real estate that we are looking all over the place, primarily Russia. There are countries that have not been fully tapped by us such as Thailand, Vietnam and Argentina. We are currently looking at potential deals. Our interest is really everywhere because there is a lot of new money in the emerging markets which appeal to certain brands whether ego-driven or having the life-jacket effect that we feel gives added-value to our investment. Given what I’ve seen in Russia’s real estate market as of late relative to some of the emerging markets, the country seems to have a lot more natural strength, especially in the high-end sector where people focus on price per square-meter. In Russia, I really prefer Moscow over all cities in the world. Unlike other countries in the world, this country has five major cities where people would at least be happy being close to living in the metro. In Russia, if one has made money anywhere in the country, you would want your place in Moscow.”
Trump, Jr. also talked about the many reported pitfalls of doing business in Russia during the same talk: “After spending half a dozen trips to Russia in the last 18 months, several buyers have been attracted to our projects there and everything associated therewith. But it is definitely not an issue of being able to find a deal – but an issue of ‘Will I ever see my money back out of that deal or can I actually trust the person I am doing the deal with?’ As much as we want to take our business over there, Russia is just a different world. Though the legal structure is in place for what we have today, and even 99 percent is covered, that 1 percent not covered could be 100 percent covered over there because it is a question of who knows who, whose brother is paying off who, etc. It really is a scary place.”
Donald Trump Jr, also talked about how “interconnected” everything is, referring to how political leaders are involved in business deals – he did not name, names. But Trump Jr. did say that “in terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. There’s indeed a lot of money coming for new-builds and resale reflecting a trend in the Russian economy and, of course, the weak dollar versus the ruble.”
The bottom line is The Trump Organization, according to President Trump’s Son in 2008, and from a vast number of media accounts between now and then, have had, and still have, various business interests in Russia. So many over the last 10 years that President Trump should explain to the American People what is really going on. Given the apparent exposure of The Trump Organization in Russia, one could assert that the President is fearful of Putin harming his business relationships should he take an action the Russian President dislikes.
That would be putting his personal needs over those of America, if it’s found to be true.
Stay tuned.
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Zennie Abraham | Zennie Abraham or “Zennie62” is the founder of Zennie62Media which consists of zennie62blog.com and a multimedia blog news aggregator and video network, and 78-blog network, with social media and content development services and consulting. Zennie is a pioneer video blogger, YouTube Partner, social media practitioner, game developer, and pundit. Note: news aggregator content does not reflect the personal views of Mr. Abraham.