Key players
The president’s inner circle and their Russian contacts
Donald Trump Jr
Oldest son of the president, running the Trump business with his brother Eric while their father is in the White House. Trump Jr was frequently at his father’s side during the campaign as a sounding board and gatekeeper. He has emerged as one of his father’s strongest advocates and a lightning rod for liberals angered by his extreme rhetoric. He lives in New York with his wife and five children.
Paul Manafort
A veteran Washington operator who was brought in as Trump’s campaign manager in April 2016, but lasted only three months until he was forced to resign over ties to Ukraine’s leader Viktor Yanukovych – an ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Manafort has since registered as a “foreign agent”, acknowledging being paid
$17.1 million over two years from a political party that dominated Ukraine until 2014.
Jared Kushner
The son-in-law of President Trump having married his daughter Ivanka in October 2009. Kushner, like his wife, is also the scion of a property magnate who set himself up in business; Kushner bought the New York Observer newspaper and he also ran a property development company. He began helping Mr Trump while his father-inlaw was on the campaign trail. Now he’s the president’s senior adviser.
Rob Goldstone
Manchester-born journalist who by 1985 was accompanying Bob Geldof to Ethiopia on famine aid missions. A year later he moved to Sydney, where he started a new career as a music publicist. Goldstone returned to England in 1991 to work for HMV then, in 1992, he moved to the US and is now based in New York. He represents singer Emin Agalarov, and spends much of his time in Russia and Azerbaijan.
Emin Agalarov
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the former husband of Leyla Aliyeva, the daughter of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. Agalarov is a pop star and businessman. He is the son of the Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov, who is close to President Putin and has served as a liaison between Mr Putin and Mr Trump who has even made an appearance in one of the younger Agalarov’s pop music videos.
Natalia Veselnitskaya
Russian lawyer, was married to a former transportation minister in the Moscow region and has represented state-owned companies, but the public record does not suggest she has close links to Russia’s senior leadership. Ms Veselnitskaya acted for Denis Katsyv, of Prevezon Holdings, named in a US indictment alleging proceeds from a tax fraud scheme were laundered through the purchase of New York property.