Trump has long embraced the Russian payday. He started selling Trump Tower condos to dubious Russians in the mid-1980s and made his first trip to Moscow in 1987 to prospect real estate deals. He returned in 1996, still prospecting for a Trump Tower Moscow. In the mid-2000s, Russians were among the leading customers in a 841-unit condo tower he built in Florida. In 2013, Trump began tweeting at Vladimir Putin in hope that Russian leader would visit his Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Moscow that fall. In 2015, Trump was still dreaming the Moscow dream, assigning Cohen and Russia-born convict Felix Sater to the development of Trump World Tower Moscow, something he didn’t give up until he became president.
A believer in borrowing money for business empire building whenever possible, Trump inexplicably shifted tracks and started using cash for his purchases nine years before he ran for president, according to a May Washington Post piece. He’s spent about $400 million on properties and renovations. So where did the cash come from? Trump’s son Eric told the Post it wasn’t outside investors, but in a famous interview 10 years ago, Donald Trump Jr. famously said, “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.” Maybe Trump Organization financial wizard Allen Weisselberg, subpoenaed to testify in the Cohen investigation, will be persuaded to enlighten us.