Competition Inside The Trump Org Explains Russian Contacts

I’ve been watching series 1 of Berlin Station this week as Mueller rolled out his speaking indictments of Flynn, Cohen, and Mueller and it dawned on me that the Trump Organization probably functions very much like Berlin Station where the principals were all working on their own agenda.

I had largely conceived of the Trump Organization as largely monolithic, and it is certainly that way in its pursuit of money. But, based on all we have learned about the interactions with Russians during the campaign, it makes more sense to view Trump’s inner circle as the proverbial “team of rivals”, always competing for the next deal that would please Trump the benefactor and line their own pockets. And that makes even more sense when you think of Trump’s management style, getting his minions to compete on a project or for his affections and his over-the-top praise or total humiliation for those who work for him depending on the situation or result.

Initially for the Trump team, Trump Tower Moscow was the golden ring. That changed somewhat as Trump started winning GOP primaries and then became the Republican nominee. At that point, every Russian offering help with the Tower combined that with help for the Trump campaign and every member of Trump’s inner circle was happy to work both angles. Michael Cohen worked with Felix Sater initially but promptly dumped Sater when he was able to make his own direct connection to the Kremlin. Ivanka made her own connection with some Russian weightlifter and was angry when Cohen shut that down. Don Jr. was working with the Agalarovs. Kushner, less interested in advancing Trump’s real estate interests than saving his own from bankruptcy, partnered with Flynn to work with Kislyak and the Saudis.

It can be reasonably assumed that all of them were reporting their progress up to Trump. Trump himself may have been working his own Russian angle entirely separate from those of his family and Cohen, something that would be typical for him. That channel involved Roger Stone who probably then got Trump to bring in Manafort and it turned out to be the most effective force in influencing the election for Trump.

One of the most confusing parts of the collusion case was the number of different approaches that the Russians made to the Trump team, making it seem as though nothing every really got coordinated. But that begins to make sense when you view both sides, the Trump insiders and the Russian oligarchs, each as a team of rivals each trying to impress their own boss. More importantly, virtually all of the connections went through Kushner/Flynn or Stone/Manafort over the last three months of the campaign, suggesting that, eventually the Trump campaign finally coordinated its response.