# Aras Agalarov Azerbaijani-Russian billionaire real estate developer, founder of [[Crocus Group]] ([[Russia]]'s largest commercial real estate company), and the intermediary who connected [[Donald Trump]] to both the [[Trump Tower Moscow]] project and the [[Trump Tower Meeting June 2016]]. Known as "Russia's Trump" for his flashy development style, Agalarov received Russia's Order of Honor from [[Vladimir Putin]] — a decoration signaling Kremlin favor. ## The Miss Universe Connection (2013) Agalarov partnered with Trump to bring the 2013 Miss Universe pageant to Moscow, hosting it at Crocus City Hall (Agalarov's venue). During the pageant weekend: - Trump met Agalarov and his pop-singer son **[[Emin Agalarov]]** - Trump signed a letter of intent for [[Trump Tower Moscow]] with the Agalarov organization - Trump sent Putin two letters calling him "a big fan" and inviting him as "guest of honor" - Trump boasted of meeting "top-level people, both oligarchs and generals" The Miss Universe trip established the personal relationship that made Agalarov the go-between for subsequent Trump-Russia contacts. ## The Trump Tower Meeting (June 2016) Agalarov is the ultimate instigator of the [[Trump Tower Meeting June 2016]] — the most documented instance of the Trump campaign's willingness to accept Russian government assistance. The chain of contact: Agalarov → his son Emin → publicist [[Rob Goldstone]] → [[Donald Trump Jr.]]. Goldstone's email to Trump Jr. described the offered information as coming from "the Crown prosecutor of Russia" (a title that doesn't exist in Russia, but which conveyed official government sourcing) and explicitly framed it as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." The Russian attendees at the meeting — [[Natalia Veselnitskaya]], [[Rinat Akhmetshin]], and others — were connected to the Agalarov orbit. ## Kremlin Alignment Agalarov's business operates at the intersection of Russian real estate and state favor. Crocus Group has received major state-adjacent construction contracts, and Agalarov's Order of Honor from Putin signals the kind of Kremlin relationship that makes his actions legible as aligned with Russian state interests rather than purely private business. His willingness to serve as the intermediary for offering Russian government assistance to the Trump campaign — through the Trump Tower meeting — is consistent with this alignment. In Putin's Russia, a billionaire developer does not freelance an operation connecting Russian government officials to a US presidential campaign. ## Significance Agalarov is the bridge between Trump's Moscow business ambitions (the Miss Universe pageant, the [[Trump Tower Moscow]] deal) and the 2016 campaign contact threads (the [[Trump Tower Meeting June 2016]]). His role demonstrates how the personal business relationship, built through the 2013 pageant, created the channel through which Russia's "government's support for Mr. Trump" was offered to the campaign.