When was trump initially recruited to be an Russian asset? March of 1986 by the new Russian [View all]
ambassador. (his ties to the russian mafia predates this)
snipped:
"The Russian political education of Donald Trump began in March 1986, when he met the Soviet ambassador to the United Nations, Yuri Dubinin and his daughter Natalia Dubinina, who was part of the Soviet delegation to the UN..."
"As Natalia told the Russian daily newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolets, when her ambassador father arrived in New York City for his very first visit, she took him on a tour, and one of the first buildings they saw was Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. ...he was so impressed that he decided he had to meet the building's owner at once. ...in a highly unusual breach of protocol, Ambassador Dubinin and Natalia went into Trump Tower...and paid (Trump) a visit.
"A few months later, at a luncheon given by cosmetics magnate Leonard Lauder, Trump happened to be seated next to Ambassador Yuri Dubinin, who proceeded to flatter the young real estate mogul shamelessly. Trump later rhapsodized about the conversation in THE ART OF THE DEAL. One thing led to another, he wrote, and now I'm talking about building a large luxury hotel across the street from the Kremlin, in partnership with the Soviet government."
For the KGB, former KGB general Oleg Kalugin said, recruiting a new asset "always starts with innocent conversation, like this".
As Natalia explained, the Russian were off to an auspicious start. "Trump melted at once. He is an emotional person, somewhat impulsive. He needs recognition. And, of course, when he gets it he likes it. My father's visit worked on him (Trump) like honey on a bee."
from: House of Trump House of Putin by Craig Unger, pages 46-47. (Note: this book is THE book to read on Trump/Russia, IMO)
1986....