President Donald Trump once spoke glowingly of Russian pop singer Emin Agalarov, describing him as an "amazing businessman" in an interview on a state-owned network in 2014.
"Emin is a good businessman, but he is an amazing entertainer. I have a feeling he likes the world of entertainment much more," Trump said in an interview for Russia's Channel One, though it was dubbed over in Russian, according to The Boston Globe.
Agalarov's agent Rob Goldstone reportedly arranged the meeting between Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer who claimed to have compromising information on his then-opponent Hillary Clinton.
The network was doing a feature on Agalarov as part of a "young millionaires" feature. His father is Russian real estate billionaire Aras Agalarov, who has close ties to President Vladimir Putin. Emin Agalarov has the video clip on his official YouTube channel.
"I think at his age he can be in the entertainment industry, but when you get older you start to understand the business aspect. But he is an amazing businessmen and at the same time a fantastic entertainer," Trump said in the interview.
"He is in a family business with a very strong father, who is also a very good man," Trump added. "I think Emin does a great job with the family business and his father is very pleased with his work.
"We were discussing with Emin and his father a project. A development of a really big building in Russia. So we'll see what happens. I am very excited about it," Trump continued in the video. "For business, it doesn't matter where you live, in America or Russia. The most important thing is to understand each other."
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