Trump's Moscow Tower
In 2015, while campaigning for the presidency, Donald Trump and his organization were pursuing a project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The deal, spearheaded by Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen, sought to establish a prominent Trump-branded skyscraper in Russia’s capital. According to Cohen’s congressional testimony, Trump personally signed a letter of intent in October 2015 to move the project forward, despite it not being widely disclosed to the public at the time. Trump had previously been trying to enter the Russian real estate market for decades, but this venture was by far his most serious effort.
Negotiations continued well into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, with discussions on the tower taking place as late as June 2016, long after Trump secured the Republican nomination. During this period, Trump often praised Putin publicly, raising questions about his motivations. "I have nothing to do with Russia," Trump declared in July 2016, despite Cohen confirming that conversations about the tower were ongoing during this time.
If successful, the deal would have cemented Trump’s business ties to Moscow and deepened his connections with Russian elites. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election highlighted these negotiations, though Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to charge Trump with conspiring with Russia. The project was part of Trump’s long-standing desire for business success in Russia and provided context for Trump’s foreign policy approach, which was seen as unusually favorable toward Putin.
The Mueller Report, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Politico, Brookings Institute.
