Trump Tower Moscow: Pursuing a Russian Business Deal During the 2016 Campaign While Publicly Denying Russian Connections
Tier 3Documented2015-10-28 to 2019-02-27
Factual Summary
While running for president in 2015 and 2016, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization actively pursued a licensing deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, a project that could have generated over $300 million in revenue. Throughout this period, Trump repeatedly and publicly denied having any business dealings or connections with Russia. His personal attorney, Michael Cohen, later pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the project's timeline at what Cohen described as Trump's implicit direction.
On October 28, 2015, Trump signed a letter of intent with I.C. Expert Investment Company, a Russian development firm, to build a Trump-branded tower in Moscow. The letter of intent specified that the Trump Organization would receive a $4 million upfront fee, a percentage of sales, and control over marketing and design. The project envisioned a tower that would be one of the tallest buildings in Europe and would include a penthouse unit that Cohen discussed offering to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a way to facilitate the deal.
Despite the active negotiations, Trump told the public a different story. At a July 2016 press conference, he stated: "I have nothing to do with Russia. I don't have any jobs in Russia. I have nothing to do with Russia." He made similar statements throughout the campaign. These denials were factually false at the time they were made. Negotiations on the Moscow project continued until at least June 2016, well into the primary season, with Cohen communicating with representatives of the Russian government, including reaching out to the office of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, to advance the deal.
Michael Cohen initially told the Senate Intelligence Committee and the House Intelligence Committee that the Moscow project negotiations ended in January 2016, before the Iowa caucuses. This was false. On November 29, 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to Congress, admitting that negotiations had continued until approximately June 2016 and that he had briefed Trump on the project's status more than the three times he had previously told Congress. Court filings from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office stated that Cohen had at least 10 face-to-face meetings with Trump about the deal during the campaign.
Cohen testified before the House Oversight Committee on February 27, 2019, that Trump did not directly tell him to lie to Congress but communicated in a way that Cohen understood as direction to minimize the project and its timeline. Cohen stated: "Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress. That's not how he operates." Cohen described Trump speaking in "a code" that those around him understood. A January 2019 BuzzFeed News report initially alleged that Trump had explicitly directed Cohen to lie, but the Special Counsel's office issued a rare public statement calling the report's description "not accurate."
The Mueller investigation documented the Trump Tower Moscow project in detail but ultimately did not charge Trump with conspiracy related to the deal. The investigation noted that Trump's public denials were false and that the project created a potential conflict of interest during the campaign, but did not establish that the negotiations constituted a criminal offense.
Primary Sources
1. Letter of intent between the Trump Organization and I.C. Expert Investment Company for Trump Tower Moscow, signed October 28, 2015
2. United States v. Michael Cohen, No. 1:18-cr-00850 (S.D.N.Y.), guilty plea and statement of facts regarding false statements to Congress, November 29, 2018
3. Michael Cohen testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, February 27, 2019
4. Mueller Report (Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election), Volume II, Section II.K (Trump Tower Moscow)
5. Special Counsel's Office statement regarding BuzzFeed News report, January 18, 2019
Corroborating Sources
1. NPR: "Michael Cohen Admits Trump Tower-Moscow Talks Continued Well Into 2016 Campaign," November 29, 2018
2. NBC News: "Scuttled Trump Tower Moscow project back in limelight after Cohen guilty plea," November 2018
3. CNN: "Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about Moscow project, Buzzfeed's sources say," January 17, 2019
4. FactCheck.org: "Trump's Sketchy Cohen Claims," November 2018
5. Congress.gov: Hearing with Michael Cohen, Former Attorney to President Donald Trump, February 27, 2019
Counterarguments and Context
Trump and his legal team argued that the Trump Tower Moscow project was a legitimate business exploration that never came to fruition, and that there was nothing improper about a private citizen pursuing a real estate deal in Russia while running for office. They noted that Trump did not ultimately build the tower and that no deal was consummated. Regarding the public denials of Russian business connections, Trump's allies characterized his statements as referring to completed deals rather than ongoing negotiations. The Mueller investigation's decision not to charge Trump with a crime related to the project is cited as evidence that the negotiations were lawful. Defenders also pointed to the Special Counsel's correction of the BuzzFeed report as evidence that Trump did not directly instruct Cohen to lie. However, the letter of intent bearing Trump's signature, Cohen's guilty plea establishing that the timeline was misrepresented to Congress, and the Mueller Report's documentation of at least 10 face-to-face meetings between Trump and Cohen about the deal during the campaign collectively establish that Trump was pursuing a major business deal with Russian interests while publicly telling voters he had no Russian business connections. Whether the denials constituted campaign deception or criminal conduct, the factual gap between Trump's public statements and the documented record is not disputed.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the evidence includes a signed letter of intent, a guilty plea by Trump's attorney for lying about the project, congressional testimony under oath, and the Mueller Report's factual findings. These are primary documents and adjudicated legal proceedings, not investigative journalism alone. The entry is placed in the emoluments and constitutional financial violations domain because the project created a potential financial entanglement with a foreign government during a presidential campaign, raising constitutional concerns about foreign influence even though no formal emoluments violation was charged.