May 10, 2017

Recovered history: Trump and Russia

“The Russian market is attracted to me,” Trump told Real Estate Weekly. “I have a great relationship with many Russians, and almost all of the oligarchs were in the room.” Trump told REW that he is in talks with Agalarov and three other groups, and that there is no rush on a timeline for the project. - 2013


“In Russia, I really prefer Moscow over all cities in the world. Unlike other countries in the world, this country has five major cities where people would at least be happy being close to living in the metro. In Russia, if one has made money anywhere in the country, you would want your place in Moscow.” - Donald Trump Jr, 2008

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RT, 2013 - US Billionaire Donald Trump has revealed plans to construct a skyscraper in Russia, similar to New York’s famous Trump Tower. The plans were confirmed during his visit to Moscow for the Miss Universe 2013 pageant taking place at Crocus City Hall.

“I have plans for the establishment of business in Russia. Now, I am in talks with several Russian companies to establish this skyscraper,” Trump said. However, he did not mention the names of the participants, or discuss negotiations and the size of the investment.

The Real Deal (New York Real Estate News) 2013 -A replica of Bayrock/Sapir’s Trump Soho hotel may be Moscow’s first big new hotel in ten years.

Alex Sapir and Rotem Rosen of the Sapir Organization, co-developers on the Soho hotel at 246 Spring Street, met with Russian developer Aras Agalarov and Donald Trump over the weekend to discuss plans for the new project — Trump’s first in Russia.

“The Russian market is attracted to me,” Trump told Real Estate Weekly. “I have a great relationship with many Russians, and almost all of the oligarchs were in the room.”

Trump told REW that he is in talks with Agalarov and three other groups, and that there is no rush on a timeline for the project. He also did not disclose the hotel’s planned height or square footage, saying only that “it has to be a large development, big enough to justify the travel.”

ETN, 2008 - The executive vice president of Development and Acquisitions for the Trump Organization, Donald Trump Jr., is the eldest child and son of famed real estate developer Donald Trump and his first wife Ivana Trump. He currently works with his siblings in buying, selling and franchising prime commercial real estate including hotel towers spanning the entire globe, from the US to Dubai.

At the recent Cityscape USA’s Bridging US and the Emerging Real Estate Markets Conference held in Manhattan, Don Jr. (as he is fondly called) revealed his company’s serious intent in getting into the emerging markets world over.

For Trump, Russia is the emerging market worth investing in currently, however in caveat into the high-end sector he counts on his international experience in the market. Trump said: “The emerging world in general attributes such brand premium to real estate that we are looking all over the place, primarily Russia....

If he were to choose his top A-list for investments in the emerging world, Trump said his firm would choose China and Russia. “Given what I’ve seen in Russia’s real estate market as of late relative to some of the emerging markets, the country seems to have a lot more natural strength, especially in the high-end sector where people focus on price per square-meter,” he said.

“In Russia, I really prefer Moscow over all cities in the world. Unlike other countries in the world, this country has five major cities where people would at least be happy being close to living in the metro.

“In Russia, if one has made money anywhere in the country, you would want your place in Moscow.”

However, to a certain degree, some US investors have had concerns over Russia. “Well, that’s happening, too. After spending half a dozen trips to Russia in the last 18 months, several buyers have been attracted to our projects there and everything associated therewith. But it is definitely not an issue of being able to find a deal – but an issue of ‘Will I ever see my money back out of that deal or can I actually trust the person I am doing the deal with?’ As much as we want to take our business over there, Russia is just a different world. Though the legal structure is in place for what we have today, and even 99 percent is covered, that 1 percent not covered could be 100 percent covered over there because it is a question of who knows who, whose brother is paying off who, etc.,” Trump said, adding, “It really is a scary place.”...

“And in terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. There’s indeed a lot of money coming for new-builds and resale reflecting a trend in the Russian economy and, of course, the weak dollar versus the ruble,” he said.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do not understand these sorts of bandwagon posts.

Trump, whatever else he is, qualifies as part of the supranational economic elite which, since steadily-growing inequality exploded in the 90's, has more in common with one another than their fellow nationals. That Putin and Trump share some temperamental aspects of oligarchs does not mean they are by definition joined at the hip, or that the behavior of other such figures should escape scrutiny (i.e. Bill Gates destroying public education). Trump, like Faulkner's Snopes clan, is a symptom, not the disease.

Similarly, the hysteria of The Russians Are Trumping! is part of the ongoing effort to obscure the ugly reality of the last election. Democrats and liberals, for abundant cause stretching back through the Obama years, lost the Oval Office to a genuinely American scam artist and are resorting to whatever means at hand to avoid confronting the truth that their base finally responded in kind and disappeared. Ginning up an opportunistic Red Scare makes the Democrats' utter failures of politics and policy even more pathetic, but also quite dangerous for a variety of reasons.

Maybe this will become clear when Pence, who is far more capable at working the levers of government, ascends to the presidency and reveals Trump for the self-absorbed piker that he is.

Anonymous said...

So well said, 3:14

'twas obama and killary - their records - plus b sanders' sellout - that put trump in the white house

but dems will do and say anything except look in the mirror

trump has mob connections thru 'is bidnesses, eh? so what. has there ever been a us preznit who was without significant ties to the allmob wealthpowerful?

all boils down to this: wealthpower giants DO what wealthpower giants DO.

here's a good idea, earthlings: stop having wealthpower giants

problem solved

Anonymous said...

That Hillary lost the election was no surprise. She stole 13 states from Sanders to get the nomination. She needed Comey, Lynch and Obama to pretend she was not prosecutable even though she committed the crime, and Sessions could still lock her up. Also as seemingly innocuous as murdering Qadafi was to her, it was shocking for her to admit it and go scot free. Americans were beyond tired of electing serial killers. If Trump has ever killed anyone he certainly would deny it. Sanders has nothing to hide in the matter of homocide and accordingly is far more popular than Trump or Hillary. Now the question is whether Comey's successor will follow up on the mandate to lock her up and whether Sessions would dare prosecute an open and shut case. The Russian gambit is a direct attack on Trump and Sessions to dissuade them from even thinking about prosecuting Hillary. And inasmuch as the GOP dumped the Bushes, the Clinton machine wants to keep control of the Dem Party to make her prosecution politically suicidal for Trump. The Dems are to the Clintons what the South Side of Chicago was for Capone.