"Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump" was published this week.
Five years after Moscow hosted the Miss Universe pageant, the world is getting a complete understanding of what was going on behind the scenes with Donald Trump, according to a bombshell new book.
Investigative reporters Michael Isikoff and David Corn claim in their new book, Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump, Trump was obsessed with the idea of meeting Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Click Here to Read an Excerpt From 'Russian Roullette'
The get-together fell through, apparently due to a traffic jam in Moscow on the night of the pageant that forced Putin to bail out.
“He was very disappointed but being Donald Trump, he thinks he has the answer for this,” Corn told Inside Edition. “He tells one of his colleagues from the Miss Universe organization, 'We can tell people that Putin came. No one will know.'"
The authors say that when Trump returned to America, Putin sent him a present as consolation in the form of a beautiful black lacquered box. Inside was a sealed letter.
"No one knows," Corn said of the letter's contents. "For years now, Donald Trump has not talked about this letter. He brags about everything else, but he won't tell us what was in this private letter from Putin."
The authors also say Trump personally reviewed all 16 Miss Universe finalists before they were announced on the show and he sometimes overruled the judges.
"He could decide, because it is his pageant, who wins and who loses," Isikoff told Inside Edition. "He would personally inspect all of the contestants — who he liked and who he wanted up there on the stage."
A spokeswoman with Miss Universe says that pageant rules allow the company's staff, including Trump, to participate in picking the finalists.
In Moscow, Trump solidified his friendship with Russian billionaire, Aras Agalarov.
Agalarov reportedly put up a percentage of the pageant budget. In return, Trump agreed to allow Aras' son, Emin, to perform at the pageant.
Trump even arranged for several Miss Universe contestants to appear in one of Emin's music videos. Trump himself also appeared in the clip and delivers his signature phrase: "You’re fired."
Little did anyone know that Trump's Russian connections would come back to haunt him.
"You can trace all of the problems that Donald Trump has had in his presidency to Russia, and the ties to Russia and the Kremlin, to this one event back in Moscow back in 2013," Isikoff said.
A spokeswoman with Miss Universe says that pageant rules allow the company's staff, including Trump, to participate in picking the finalists.
RELATED STORIES
