Ever wonder why a US president would consistently align with Russian interests for decades?

Investigative journalist Craig Unger has spent over ten years untangling the web of connections between Donald Trump, Russian money, and the Kremlin.

Since Trump’s return to office in January 2025, Politico has documented 29 instances where his positions aligned with Putin’s in his first month alone. But according to Unger, this pattern started long before the presidency – in Trump Tower, 1984, with a Russian businessman carrying $6 million in cash.

Against the backdrop of Trump’s rapprochement with Putin and attempts to strong-arm Ukraine into stopping resistance to the Russian invasion, Euromaidan Press writer Alexander Price spoke with Unger at the 2025 Munich Security Conference to make sense of repeated media claims that Trump is a Russian asset.

The latest one includes a Facebook post by former Kazakh intelligence chief Alnur Mussayev, who stated on 21 February 2025 that the Soviet KGB recruited Trump as an asset codenamed “Krasnov” in the 1980s – a claim reported by The Mirror (UK). However, reports about the American president’s ties to the Kremlin already circulated during his first presidency.

The Guardian reported that Czech intelligence services targeted Trump in the late 1980s following his 1977 marriage to his first wife, Ivana Zelníčková. British intelligence also warned the US of Trump’s contacts with Russia in 2015.

Unger brings rare expertise to this topic as the former deputy editor of The New York Observer and editor-in-chief of Boston magazine. His books include the bestselling “House of Bush, House of Saud” (2004), followed by two deeply researched works on Trump’s Russian ties: “House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia” (2018) and “American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump” (2021).

“A home base for the Russian mob”

Alexander Price: What is Donald Trump’s relationship with Putin and the Russian mafia?

Craig Unger: In 1984, a man named David Bogatin went into the newly opened Trump Tower and put down $6 million in cash. He met with Donald Trump and purchased five condos.

According to FBI files, Bogatin was associated with the Russian mafia. As the owner of these condos, Bogatin was positioned to launder money through their sale.

The question becomes: Where did the money come from? Trump didn’t ask. 

It’s very hard to prove that Trump knowingly participated in money laundering, and he gets away with it because the regulations are incredibly loose and hard to enforce. I found thirteen Russians tied to the Russian mafia who owned Trump properties at Trump Tower or other Trump buildings. It’s astonishing that a President of the United States would provide a home base for the Russian mob.

Trump has been allied with Russians for over 40 years. It started out in 1980 at his first successful hotel. He bought all the TV sets from an electronics firm that was a front for Russian intelligence — they were identifying potential assets for the KGB during the Soviet era. They cultivated Trump and brought him to Moscow in 1987 at the KGB’s direction.

Looking at this 40-year relationship, and the various times Trump has profited from it, I don’t believe he’ll turn against them now.

I can’t see him doing anything to help Zelensky in Ukraine. They’ve announced that their negotiating position is essentially to cede all Ukrainian territory to Russia, and I’m not sure how that can be prevented. 

Price: After Trump’s announcement last week of his phone call with Putin and plan to negotiate a peace plan for Ukraine, many European leaders have compared this moment to the signing of the Munich Agreement with the Germans in 1938. What do you think of this comparison and the implied association of Putin with Hitler?

Unger: I think the comparison is absolutely accurate, and all the more troubling because many of us remember the history leading up to World War II. It’s happening again. There’s no question that Trump is in Putin’s pocket. I’ve written two books about this relationship.

One shows how his real estate empire has been used for money laundering by Russian organized crime figures. After six bankruptcies, Russian money helped him rebuild his business. He has been an asset to Russian intelligence, a relationship going back to 1980 that I detail in “American Kompromat.”

This moment represents a breaking point for NATO, and few Americans understand how effective the Western alliance has been for 80 years. After World War II, we helped establish strong market economies in Europe, creating military allies and trading partners.

The difference in Western Europe today versus 1945 is remarkable. It’s as if we’re discarding that successful alliance for the personal interest of Donald Trump and his allies.

The 1938 Munich disaster taught the world these five ironclad security lessons. The 2025 one proved Trump has forgotten them all

“Asset versus agent”

Price: When you say that Donald Trump is an intelligence asset for the Russians, what specifically does it mean? Is he in communication with a handler?

Unger: I want to clearly differentiate between an asset and an agent. An agent is a paid employee with specific duties. It doesn’t work that way with Trump.

In one of my books, I compared him to Armand Hammer, the enormously wealthy American oil man who had franchises with the Soviet Union.

When Hammer died in the 1980s, Soviet intelligence sought a replacement, and I believe Trump was among those they approached. It’s more like a friendship — you do a favor for him, he does a favor for you. There doesn’t have to be direct contact.

Everyone knows Putin’s position regarding Ukraine. Trump doesn’t need specific instructions to align with these interests.