- July 26, 2016:
- "I mean, I have nothing to do with Russia. I don't have any jobs in Russia. I'm all over the world but we're not involved in Russia."
- July 26, 2016:
- "For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia."
- Oct. 6, 2016:
- During the second presidential debate, Hillary Clinton says Russia is trying to help elect Trump, "maybe because he wants to do business in Moscow." Trump calls this assessment "so ridiculous," adding, "I know nothing about Russia ... I don't deal there."
- Oct. 24, 2016:
- "I have nothing to do with Russia folks, I'll give you a written statement."
- Jan. 11, 2017:
- Trump tells reporters that he has "no deals that could happen in Russia because we've stayed away."
- Jan. 11, 2017:
- "Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!."
- Feb. 7, 2017:
- "I don't know Putin, have no deals in Russia."
- May 11, 2017:
- "I have had dealings over the years where I sold a house to a very wealthy Russian many years ago. I had the Miss Universe pageant -- which I owned for quite a while -- I had it in Moscow a long time ago. But other than that, I have nothing to do with Russia."
Maybe his dementia kicked in, thus accounting for why/how he forgot to mention the deal he sought in the 1990s....
Maybe he meant deals that didn't fall through as opposed to deals he attempted to bring to fruition; however, if that's what he meant, it sure is equivocal, "splitting hairs," given that anyone in their right mind knows damn well the temporal context of what Trump was repeatedly asked about the whole of his business career. I mean really, who among us in the "real world" forbears such puerility from others? I dare say none of us. His presuming that attesting to a strict technicality is tantamount to one's child, in response to "did you hit your brother yesterday," answering "no" because it was actually today that the child did so, and one accepting that "no" as a truthful response.
It wouldn't have cost him a thing, provided there were no "shady" or illegal aspects involved, to have said he attempted execute the Trump Tower Moscow deal and the 1995 Moscow project, but instead of just saying so, he committed lies of omission regarding both. The only "rational" reason for him to have demurred mentioning both is his thinking there was something afoul afoot with each of them.