Trump told Putin he's a 'big fan' in gushing letter, invited him to 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow: Report
With the next presidential election less than three months away, incumbent President Donald Trump faces a fresh challenge over his alleged admiration for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. On Tuesday, August 18, an explosive Senate Intelligence Committee report was released and it contained images of correspondence between Trump and Putin when the former was yet to become the president of the US.
Trump's 2013 letters were full of praise for Putin, Russian women
The images contain Trump’s handwritten all-capital inscriptions and it spoke about inviting Putin to the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow -- an event that he was proud to hold in Russia for the first time and even turned down offers from other countries. The letter from June 2013 saw the words ‘THE WORLD’s MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN!’ written at the bottom left and Trump’s signature at the bottom right. The letter also featured the name of oligarch Aras Agalarov, who the New York tycoon was partnering with in the event which was held in November 2013. Trump sent another invitation letter to Putin in September 2013 which read almost identical to that of June and reiterated that many countries were turned down to see Russia get the hosting rights. In the September letter, Trump also called the Moscow beauty pageant as “the biggest and most important pageant in the world”.
“I want to take this opportunity to personally invite you to be my guest of honor in Moscow. I know you will have a great time,” the future American president told the Russian strongman, less than a year before the then Barack Obama administration slapped it with heavy sanctions for invading Crimea. According to a report in Daily Mail, the initial draft of the letter which was furnished to a longtime Trump aide by British music publicist Rob Goldstone, also saw Trump saying he ‘would also hope to meet privately’ with Putin during his stay in Moscow. It was omitted from the version that the report came up with.
The bipartisan Senate report dealt with Russia’s alleged efforts to interfere in the presidential election of 2016 -- something that Trump has always denied and counter alleged that he has been made a victim of witch-hunting.
The June 2013 letter was not the only one that Trump wrote to Putin. In December 2007, he called himself a “big fan” (the words being underlined) of the Russian president after the latter was picked as Time Magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’ that year. He also said Putin deserved the honor. Both the letters were written on the stationery of the Trump Organization.
Trump’s kind words for Putin came at a time when his business associate Felix Sater was looking into Trump real-estate projects in Moscow, Daily Mail reported.
Putin regretted not being able to meet Trump
Putin also came up with a response to Trump. Though he did not attend the event, he did not forget to acknowledge Trump’s gesture and wrote back to him along with sending a gift. He also regretted not being able to meet Trump.
“Dear Mr. Trump, I would like to congratulate you and your colleagues on successfully holding the Miss Universe contest in Moscow. I hope that all the participants in this remarkable event will go home with good memories of their visit to the Russian capital. It is a pity that we were not able to have our meeting, but I hope we will be able to talk during one of your upcoming visits to Russia. Yours sincerely, V. Putin,” his correspondence read.
Enclosed with the letter was an image of the gift that Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, was ecstatic about. “DAD - SEE ATTACHED FROM EMIN [Agalarov] – YOU ARE BEING SENT A GIFT FROM PUTIN!” he said addressing the future American president.
The Senate report also said in detail how Trump asked Sater to accompany Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump, his daughter and currently a senior adviser, on their trip to Moscow to explore his company’s projects.
“My kids are going there; I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you were there looking after them,” Sater told the committee. Sater reportedly contacted a ‘close friend’ to get the duo a nearly private tour of the Kremlin. Sater contacted a 'close friend' to get them a nearly private tour of the Kremlin. He also said that Ivanka sat on the chair in the ‘boss’s room’ at the Kremlin after he convinced the security guards that she is the daughter of a VIP from the US.
Trump has been repeatedly accused of going soft on Putin even after becoming the president. There have been several instances where he roared less on Russia than what the people of America expected. A recent explosive report said that Russia offered money to the Taliban extremists to kill American soldiers deployed in Afghanistan but Trump was accused of doing little. He even sought re-admission of Putin’s country into the G7. Trump also refused the buy the recent intelligence report that Russia was trying to see him win the upcoming presidential election and has often claimed that he has been the toughest president the US has seen when it came to Russia.