One of the biggest accusations of the Trump Campaign during the election was Trump’s involvement with Russia. The love-affair between Trump and Putin (Russia President) was evident; from Trump’s choice of words when referring to Putin, to his denial of interference (even after all US intelligence offices had confirmed it), to his portrayal of “the hacker” being a 400-pound guy. As long as it was not the Russians, that is all that mattered.
Yet, when asked if he had any business interests in Russia, Trump’s immediate response was no. How could this be if according to the investigation he pursued it at least from 2013?
The Trump Organization has pursued and completed projects outside the United States as part of its real estate portfolio. Some projects have involved the acquisition and ownership (through subsidiary corporate structures) of property. In other cases, the Trump Organization has executed licensing deals with real estate developers and management companies, often local to the country where the project was located.
Between at least 2013 and 2016, the Trump Organization explored a similar licensing deal in Russia involving the construction of a Trump-branded property in Moscow. The project, commonly referred to as a “Trump Tower Moscow” or “Trump Moscow” project, anticipated a combination of commercial, hotel, and residential properties all within the same building. Between 2013 and June 2016, several employees of the Trump Organization, including then-president of the organization Donal J. Trump, pursued a Moscow deal with several Russian counter parties.
Mueller Report Volume 1, page 67
As Trump has stated multiple times, and as his election staff has corroborated, Trump never expected to win and therefore his focus was on 2017 business. And those businesses were in Russia. Trump had no intention to keep any of the promises he made during the campaign because he was not intending to be President. His intention was to make him, his organization and his name, great again.
