How Donald Trump used the Miss Universe pageant to further his biz - crowning winners from targeted countries

President Trump owned the Miss Universe pageant from 1996 to 2015, selling it off the year he entered politics

The New Yorker found that Trump, often overruling the judges, picked the finalists himself, from countries he did or wanted to do business with

Most famously, Trump took the pageant to Moscow, Russia in 2013, expressing on Twitter that he hoped to meet President Vladimir Putin
By Nikki Schwab, U.s. Political Reporter For Dailymail.com

PUBLISHED: 17:50 GMT, 19 February 2018 | UPDATED: 18:26 GMT, 19 February 2018

Sure, businessman Donald Trump liked owning the Miss Universe pageant for the beauties, but those girls were a gateway to other business opportunities too.

The New Yorker found that Trump used his weight as owner of the competition to select winners from countries he did or wanted to do business with.

In 2013, for example – a particularly notable year for the pageant because the main event was held in Moscow – one preliminary judge remembered being 'shocked' by the results, as some of the 15 finalists weren't competitors that the judges had selected.

Then-businessman Donald Trump (right) poses alongside 'Miss Venezuela' Gabriela Isler who won the Miss Universe pageant in 2013, the year the competition took place in Moscow, Russia. Judges told the New Yorker that Trump picked the finalists that year

Donald Trump (center) poses alongside former Miss Universe winners in 2011 including (from left) Rosanna Purcell of Ireland, Susie Castillo and Shandi Finnessey of the U.S., Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic, Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela, Justine Pasek of Panama, and Riyo Mori of Japan

Donald Trump (center) gives a thumbs up at a Miss Universe contestants welcoming event at his Doral, Florida property in January 2015. He would launch his bid for the White House and sell off the pageant later that year

In 2009, Donald Trump (center) poses with Stefania Fernandez (left), a former Miss Venezuela who won the Miss Universe pageant that year, and also Dayana Mendoza (right), also of Venezuela, who was crowned Miss Universe in 2008

While businessman Donald Trump (center) certainly gushed about owning the Miss Universe pageant because of the women, he also used the pageant as a way to conduct international business, choosing competitors from countries he did business with or wished to in the future

'I didn't know what happened,' the source told the New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin. 'I felt ridiculous.'

The judges realized something was up when they, against the pageant's wishes, shared notes.

The competitors, Toobin noted, weren't naive when it came to knowing who was making the call.

'[T]he list looked like the countries that Donald Trump did business with, or wanted to do business with,' said Kerrie Baylis, who competed as 'Miss Jamaica' in 2013.

'Miss Singapore,' Shi Lim, agreed.

'The finalists were picked by Trump. He was really in charge. We called it the Trump card,' she told Toobin.

A third pageant participant, 2012's 'Miss Canada' Adwoa Yamoah made similar charge.

'He made comments about every girl: "I've been to that country." "We're building a Trump Tower there,"' she recalled, noting that it was clear that women from the countries he liked did well at the competition.

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A Miss Universe spokeswoman also told the New Yorker writer that it was within the pageant rules for the company's staff, which included Trump, to participate in naming the finalists.

Trump owned that pageant from 1996 to 2015, selling it off once he entered politics.

His 2013 hosting of Miss Universe in Russia is still being used as evidence that he wanted to curry favor with Russia President Vladimir Putin, tweeting after announcing that the pageant would be held there, 'Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow—if so, will he become my new best friend?'

Micheal Cohen, Trump's longtime personal lawyer, has pushed back on the assertion that holding the pageant in Russia was solely the now-president's decision.

'Trump didn't decide alone that the pageant would take place in Russia,' Cohen told the New Yorker.

'The board unanimously agreed that the package the Agalarovs put forward was the best for the company and the best for the contestants, so we approved it,' Cohen continue, name-dropping the father-son team of real estate developer and pop star that pitched a Moscow event to Trump.

'I suspect that one of the Agalaroves' motivations was to advance Emin's career,' Cohen added.

Pop singer Emin Agalarov performed at the 2013 event, which also attracted judges Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, supermodel Carol Alt and ice-skater Tara Lipinski, whose back in the limelight for her PyeongChang Olympic Games coverage, alongside fellow skater Johnny Weir.

Putin never showed up to the Miss Universe pageant, though Aras Agalarov, Emin's father, told the Washington Post the Russian leader had sent Trump a note and a decorative box.

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