**Donald Trump, who later became the 45th and 47th President of the United States, first visited Russia (then the USSR) in July 1987.** At first glance, this visit seemed to have a purely business purpose — to discuss a project to build a luxury hotel in Moscow — but it later became the subject of intense scrutiny and speculation. Many began to suggest that the Soviet intelligence service, particularly the KGB, could have used this episode to influence the prospective American businessman. So, what do we know about this trip, how the KGB might have manipulated Trump, and what consequences it could have had for the United States? Let’s try to unravel this.
**Trip to Moscow: Background and Motives**
In 1987, Donald Trump was already a well-known New York real estate mogul whose popularity was rapidly growing. The invitation to visit the USSR came from Yuri Dubinin, the Soviet Ambassador to the U.S., whom Trump had met in 1986 in New York. As Trump recalled in his 1987 book *The Art of the Deal*, Dubinin admired his business success, which likely flattered the young entrepreneur. Officially, the trip was meant for negotiations about constructing a luxury hotel in the heart of Moscow, near the Kremlin. On July 4, 1987, Trump, accompanied by his wife Ivana, arrived in the Soviet capital and stayed at the *National Hotel*, in a room known as the "Lenin Suite." According to former Soviet intelligence officers, this room was under constant KGB surveillance.
The visit was organized by the state agency *Intourist*, which was actually a tool of the KGB for monitoring foreigners. Trump visited several potential construction sites in Moscow and Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), but the project was never realized. One of the main reasons for the failure was a fundamental mismatch: the USSR did not recognize private land ownership, which contradicted the principles on which Trump’s business was based. However, this visit seemingly left a mark on his views, which became evident after he returned to the United States.
**The KGB’s Role: Manipulation and Psychological Influence**
According to Yuri Shvets, a former KGB major who worked undercover as a TASS journalist in Washington in the 1980s, Trump caught the attention of Soviet intelligence back in 1977 when he married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. Shvets, who later moved to the U.S. and became a source for Craig Unger’s 2021 book *American Kompromat*, claims that the KGB viewed Trump as a potential "target" due to his psychological profile: vanity, self-love, and sensitivity to flattery.
During his 1987 visit to Moscow, Shvets argues, the KGB employed a "charm offensive" tactic. Agents carefully studied Trump’s personality and exploited his weaknesses by feeding his ego with compliments and hinting at his great potential. They instilled ideas that aligned with Soviet interests, including criticism of the West and its alliances. Shvets recalled, "They told him that he was the one who could change the course of history." These methods, known in the KGB as "active measures," bore fruit: shortly after returning to the U.S., Trump began voicing opinions that eerily echoed Soviet propaganda.
By September 1987, Trump published a political manifesto in the form of full-page ads in such publications as *The New York Times*, *The Washington Post*, and *The Boston Globe*. He spent about $100,000 on this campaign. The ad, titled "An Open Letter from Donald J. Trump," sharply criticized U.S. allies, particularly NATO, for what he saw as their reliance on American military support without making sufficient contributions themselves. This stance was unusual for American society at the time but perfectly aligned with the USSR's goal — to sow discord between the U.S. and its partners. According to Shvets, the KGB considered this a significant success.
**Facts and Speculation**
In addition to Shvets’ testimony, in 2025, former KGB officer Alnur Mussayev, who headed Kazakhstan’s security service, claimed on social media that Trump was recruited in 1987 under the code name "Krasnov." Mussayev asserted that he had participated in operations of the KGB’s 6th Directorate, which handled the recruitment of Western businessmen, but did not provide evidence, citing the fact that the archives are kept in Russia under Putin’s control.
Another former KGB officer, Oleg Kalugin, who led counterintelligence, suggested in 2018 that Trump might have been compromised in Moscow through KGB "entertainment" involving women. However, there is no proof of this. What is known is that the *National Hotel* was equipped with listening devices, which was a common practice. Whether compromising material was gathered remains unclear.
Special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s 2019 investigation did not find direct evidence that Trump knowingly colluded with Russia as an agent. However, the report did not address the counterintelligence aspects of his contacts with Moscow, leaving room for speculation.
**Potential Consequences for the U.S.**
If we assume that the KGB did influence Trump, his return to the White House in 2025 following a victory in the 2024 election raises concerns. Here are the main risks:
1. **Weakening Alliances**: Trump’s criticism of Western partners and his isolationist views could undermine NATO’s position, which benefits Russia.
2. **Possibility of Blackmail**: If the KGB collected compromising material in 1987, Moscow could use it to pressure Trump, explaining his reluctance to criticize Putin.
3. **Internal Destabilization**: Trump’s continuous attacks on American institutions — intelligence, the judiciary, the press — might be a reflection of Soviet strategies for undermining democracies.
4. **Financial Vulnerability**: In the 2000s, Trump actively sought Russian investments, which could have increased his dependence on the Kremlin.
**Conclusion**
Trump’s 1987 visit to Moscow was likely not a mere coincidence. The KGB, looking for levers of influence over the West, may have seen him as an ideal candidate — ambitious yet vulnerable to manipulation. While there is no definitive proof of his recruitment, Trump’s subsequent behavior — from anti-Western statements in 1987 to his sympathies for Putin in later years — suggests the possible success of the Soviet "charm offensive."
For the U.S., this means that a president returning to power in 2025 may be partially shaped by the influence of a foreign state. Even if Trump is not an agent in the classical sense, his tendency toward isolationism and admiration for authoritarian leaders makes America more vulnerable. The events of 1987 remain a mystery, but their echoes continue to influence the political reality of the U.S., serving as a reminder of Russia’s expertise in geopolitical games.
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