Ex-KGB spy claims Trump was cultivated as Russian asset for 40 years

Former KGB spy Yuri Shvets has told The Guardian that Russia has cultivated former president Donald Trump as a Russian asset for over 40 years. Shvets serves as a source for journalist Craig Unger who's currently working on his new book 'American Kompromat' which explores Trump's relationship to Russia and Jeffrey Epstein. Trump allegedly appeared on Russian's radar after his marriage to his first wife Ivana Zelnickova in 1977 and was later identified as a potential asset by so-called spotter agent Joy-Lud who sold television sets to Trump for his Grand Hyatt New York hotel.

When Trump visited Russia with Ivana in 1987, he was allegedly approached by KGB operatives who suggested he'd go into politics.

"For the KGB, it was a charm offensive. They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery," Shvets recalls. "This is what they exploited. They played the game as if they were immensely impressed by his personality and believed this is the guy who should be the president of the United States one day: it is people like him who could change the world. They fed him these so-called active measures soundbites and it happened. So it was a big achievement for the KGB active measures at the time."