in Monaco and is in prison there) make bail. Rybolovlev’s efforts free Bedzhamov, and Monaco thereafter announces that it will not extradite him to Russia. Thus—and partly as a result of Rybolovlev’s exertions—Bedzhamov may never have to answer questions about his dealings with Bykov, who by 2015 had come to be entangled with not just one but two of Trump’s business partners.210 Sater’s intersection with Rybolovlev on the Bedzhamov-Bykov matter suggests a possible prior relationship between the two men that Sater could have translated into a real estate opportunity for Donald Trump.
In late 2018, Rybolovlev is arrested on corruption charges in Monaco on an unrelated matter, with France’s Le Monde reporting that the Russian businessman “is at the heart of the investigation opened a year ago by the prosecutor general of Monaco into [alleged] acts of corruption, active and passive influence peddling, and complicity in these offenses.”211
The Emirates’ concern about multinational nuclearization in the Middle East soon leads the UAE to endorse a draft resolution at the United Nations establishing the Middle East as a “nuclear weapon free zone.”
As of 2008, Israel is the only country in the Middle East not to have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The small Jewish state is widely presumed to have nuclear weapons, even as Iran and Syria are, by 2008, generally believed by the same observers to be engaged in nuclear weapons development. While the official position of the UAE in 2008 is that the “states [of the Middle East], including Iran,” have a “right” to “develop peaceful nuclear energy programs,” and in fact the Emiratis themselves have by that year “evaluat[ed] the potential of a UAE nuclear energy program,” the conventional wisdom that even responsible nuclear energy exploration can soon lead to a nuclear weapons program will dominate the early 2010s.212
CHAPTER 2
THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL, THE CENTER FOR THE NATIONAL INTEREST, AND THE VALDAI DISCUSSION CLUB
2013 to 2014
Shortly after Trump decides to run for president, the Kremlin begins its covert election interference campaign. Tensions in the Middle East rise as Russia and a large alliance of Western nations sign a nuclear deal with Iran that both Israel and a Saudi-led Sunni axis in the Gulf strongly oppose. Two men with Kremlin ties who will have a profound effect on Trump’s 2016 campaign, Dimitri Simes and Joseph Mifsud, make visits to a prestigious discussion venue in Moscow of which Vladimir Putin is the chief patron.
On January 1, 2013, Donald Trump tells one of his closest friends and advisers, Roger Stone, that he intends to run for president of the United States.1 Shortly thereafter—knowing he will be a candidate but having not yet made it official—Trump records a video for distribution in Israel in which he enthusiastically endorses Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister.2 “[A] strong prime minister is a strong Israel,” Trump says in the video. “And you [Israelis] truly have a great prime minister in Benjamin Netanyahu. There’s nobody like him. He’s a winner. He’s highly respected. He’s highly thought of by all.… So vote for Benjamin. Terrific guy. Terrific leader. Great for Israel.”3 Trump will later claim Netanyahu “personally solicited” his “help” in the form of “an ad or a statement,” a claim the Israelis will deny.4
It is also in 2013 that Mohammed bin Zayed enters into a multibillion-dollar co-investment with Vnesheconombank’s and Kirill Dmitriev’s RDIF.5 The co-investment, according to the New York Times, is “part of an effort [by the UAE] to build close relations to Russia.” The immediate effect of the joint venture is that the UAE invests in a slew of major projects in Russia, including the building of roads, an airport, and several cancer treatment centers.6
Once the RDIF-UAE deal is signed, Dmitriev, considered by the Emiratis “a key conduit to the Russian government,” becomes a regular visitor to Abu Dhabi, where Nader has begun advising MBZ.7 By 2015, the Emirates’ ambassador to Russia will be describing Dmitriev as a “messenger” who can transmit information directly to Putin.8 Dmitriev also begins coordinating with the Israelis as his term as RDIF manager continues; by late 2017 or early 2018, the fund is “negotiating with Israeli government ministers on a $100 million project to open Israeli-run dairies in Russia.”9 The RDIF thereby becomes a crucial fulcrum in communications between Russia, Israel, and the Saudi-led axis of Sunni Arab nations plotting a new alliance.
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In June 2013, a year after assuming the leadership of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), future Trump national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn asks his superiors