Who is Trump Friend and Business Associate Aras Agalarov

Aras Agalarov is a Russian oligarch and close business associate of Vladimir Putin. In 2013 Putin presented Agalarov with the Russian Order of Honor, which is one of Russia’s highest civilian awards. Agalarov, who heads the Crocus Group real estate development company, is also a personal friend and business associate of Donald Trump, and worked with Trump to produce the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.¹²

While Agalarov was working with Trump to produce the 2013 Miss Universe pageant he was also involved in negotiations with Trump and Trump business associates Alex Sapir and Rotem Rosen to build Trump Tower-Moscow.³⁴⁵⁶ According to Agalarov those plans fell apart after Western sanctions were imposed in 2014 and the Russian economy tanked.⁷ (Negotiations to build Trump Tower-Moscow however continued into the 2016 Presidential election, which Trump did not disclose to the public.⁸)

Vladimir Putin awards Aras Agalarov the Russian Order of Honor

Agalarov and his son, Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, were instrumental in setting up the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting where Donald Trump Jr. was led to believe he would get damaging information about Hillary Clinton from a “Russian government attorney.” According to their representative at the meeting, Irakly Kaveladze, Agalarov arranged the meeting as a favor to a Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer who has worked with Agalarov. Veselnitskaya, who was also at the meeting, is the lawyer that was characterized to Trump Jr. as working for the Russian government.⁹¹⁰¹¹

The day after the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting Agalarov gave Trump a birthday gift: an expensive painting. “There are few things better than receiving a sensational gift from someone you admire — and that’s what I’ve received from you,” Trump replied a week later in a thank-you note. “You made my birthday a truly special event by your thoughtfulness – not to mention your remarkable talent. I’m rarely at a loss for words, but right now I can only say how much I appreciate your friendship and to thank you for this fantastic gift. This is one birthday that I will always remember.”¹²¹³

The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report “Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities”, released in redacted form to the public on August 18, 2020, determined that “The Agalarovs have significant ties to Russian organized crime and have been closely affiliated with individuals involved in murder, prostitution, weapons trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, narcotics trafficking, money laundering and other significant criminal enterprises. Some of those activities have extended outside of Russia, including to the United States.”

The report goes on: “Aras Agalarov also has significant ties to the Russian government, including to individuals involved in influence operations targeting the 2016 U.S. election. He has access to President Putin and to Putin’s close aide Dimitry Peskov.”¹⁴

Here is a May 8, 2017, Instagram post by Emin Agalarov showing (L-R) Trump, Aras Agalarov, 2012 Miss Universe Olivia Culpo, and Emin at the 2014 Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas on June 16, 2013:

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A post shared by Emin (@eminofficial)

Here is a January 10, 2017, Instagram post by Aras Agalarov showing him with Trump at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow on November 9, 2013:

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A post shared by Aras Agalarov (@agalarovaras)

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Who is Aras Agalarov

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