Talking Points Memo
Donald Trump Jr. reportedly met with an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes three months before his father won the 2016 presidential election.
The New York Times reported Saturday that the small group who met with Trump Jr. Aug. 3, 2016 at Trump Tower included Arab princes’ emissary George Nader, Israeli social media specialist Joel Zamel and former Blackwater head Erik Prince.
The meeting “convened primarily to offer help to the Trump team” was arranged by Prince. Nader reportedly told Trump Jr. that the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates crown princes were “eager” to help his father win the election. Zamel also boasted about his firm after it had already “drawn up a multimillion-dollar proposal for a social media manipulation effort” to help elect Trump.
Although it’s “unclear whether such a proposal was executed” and “the details of who commissioned it remain in dispute,” Trump Jr. reportedly “responded approvingly” and Nader was quickly embraced as a Trump ally who began meeting frequently with Jared Kushner and Michael Flynn. NYT notes that Nader at the time was also “promoting a secret plan to use private contractors to destabilize Iran, the regional nemesis of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.”
After the election, Nader reportedly paid Zamel up to $2 million for unclear reasons, but NYT notes that a Zamel-tied company provided Nader with an “elaborate” presentation about the significance of social media campaigning to Trump’s win.
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