# Trump Tower Moscow The proposed [[Trump Organization]] real estate deal in Moscow that was actively negotiated during the 2016 presidential campaign while Trump publicly denied having any business dealings with [[Russia]]. ## Timeline ### 2013: Agalarov Deal After the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, Trump signed a letter of intent with **[[Aras Agalarov]]** for a Trump Tower Moscow. Deal stalled. ### 2015-2016: I.C. Expert Deal - **September 2015**: [[Michael Cohen]] receives proposal from I.C. Expert (Andrey Rozov), brokered by [[Felix Sater]] - **October 28, 2015**: Trump signs letter of intent — on the same day as the third Republican debate - **November 2015**: Sater emails Cohen: "Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putin's team to buy in on this" ### Deal Terms - $4 million upfront fee to Trump Organization - $50 million penthouse unit designated for Putin (per Cohen testimony) - Ongoing licensing revenue - Financing through **[[VTB Bank]]** (under US sanctions) and associates of the **Rotenberg brothers** (Putin allies, also sanctioned) ### Kremlin Contact - **January 14, 2016**: Cohen contacts the Kremlin directly, reaching Putin spokesman [[Dmitry Peskov]]'s office - Receives a 20-minute callback from a Peskov assistant - Negotiations continued through at least June 2016 ### The Lie - Throughout the campaign, Trump repeatedly stated: "I have nothing to do with Russia" - Cohen initially told Congress negotiations ended January 2016 - **November 2018**: Cohen pleads guilty to lying to Congress about the timeline - Cohen later testified the deal fell through simply because "he won the presidency" ## Significance Trump Tower Moscow is the clearest documented conflict of interest during the 2016 campaign: a candidate pursuing a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars that required Kremlin approval, while simultaneously making foreign policy statements about Russia, while publicly denying any Russian business interests. The deal's existence meant that throughout the campaign, Trump had a direct financial incentive to maintain good relations with Putin — and both sides knew it.