Despite Trump’s Claims, He Does Have Connections With Russia

Trump has long claimed that he has never had any business relationships or personal connections with Russia, largely due to the criticism directed at him due of his prior remarks in regards to Vladimir Putin and NATO. Not wanting to appear as a proxy for the Russians, Trump has repeatedly denied that his denigrating remarks about NATO and his praise for Vladimir Putin are aimed at appeasing Russia. Rather, he claims that these remarks are purely coincidental and merely taken out of context by the media.

Like most instances, when Trump claims one thing you have to assume the complete opposite. Yet again, this has proven to be the case. Why no one has criticized him for these unabashed lies is a mystery, but it is about time somebody did it.

Even as recent as the year 2013, Trump has established some obvious connections to Russian businessmen.

Appearing in a music video of a Russian pop star named Emin Agalarov, Trump makes a cameo appearance towards the end and shouts his patented phrase “you’re fired.” While this may seem pretty innocuous, Emin Agalarov is the son of a Russian oligarch named Aras Agalarov. Aras Agalarov also happens to be an important ally of Vladimir Putin. In addition, the Agalarovs are in charge of a real estate firm called “Crocus Group” which helped bring Trump’s Miss Universe pageant to Russia. If this doesn’t dispel the notion that Trump has never had any relationships with Russian businessmen, then nothing short of a confession by Trump will suffice.

During a speech in 2014, Trump had also said that he “spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin, who could not have been nicer.” This directly contradicts the claim from Trump that he never even met Putin. This begs the question, why would Trump lie about this? This seems like something odd to lie about, right?

Trump also has real estate investments in New York City and Florida that are financed, in part, by a firm called the “Bayrock Group.” The Bayrock Group has private investors that are from Russia, meaning, that Trump definitely has some type of connections with Russia contrary to what he has been saying to the press.

For goodness sake, Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has worked with Viktor Yanukovych; Yanukovych was one of Putin’s largest geopolitical allies when he was President of Ukraine.

Donald Trump’s own son went on the record in 2008 and said that the “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets” and that they “see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.” For somebody who claims to have no financial investments or deals with Russia, this statement should be alarming at the least.

While the findings aren’t entirely concrete, and definitely not quite incriminating, it does reveal some pretty odd revelations about Trump and possible connections with Russia. In the process, it also has shown that Donald Trump hasn’t been entirely truthful in stating that he has never met Vladimir Putin. Given that most of what Trump is saying can be refuted based on documented information, it is pretty bold of Trump to come onto television and claim the polar opposite of the truth. While Hillary Clinton is definitely guilty in her own regard and not always truthful herself, why would anybody want to support an obvious, pathological liar like Donald Trump? For all we know, Trump is the real Manchurian Candidate.

Featured Image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore