Donald Trump selected finalists in Miss Universe pageants based on his business ties or prospective ties with the woman’s home country in order to further his own interests, former contestants claim.
Dashed beauty queens claim Trump, during his co-ownership of the organization from 1996 to 2015, would mingle among the women and would have his notes about them jotted down, according to a report by the New Yorker.
Trump would reportedly meet the women during rehearsals and the women who went on to the broadcast finals were from countries that he had interests in.
Preliminary judges tasked with selecting the finalists said they were shocked when their votes were tallied and some women who advanced to the final stage weren’t selected by any of the judges.
And during Trump’s nearly 20 years with Miss Universe, multiple pageants were hosted in cities where Trump had business ties and several finalists were from countries where ratings were consistently high, according to the New Yorker.
Donald Trump used the Miss Universe pageants to further business interests, former contests claimed. Pictured: Trump with Miss Venezuela who won the title in 2013 when the pageant was hosted in Russia
Shi Lim, Miss Singapore 2013 (left), said: ‘The finalists were picked by Trump. He was really in charge. We called it the Trump card.’ Kerrie Baylis (right), Miss Jamaica 2013, noted finalists were often from the countries ‘Trump did business with, or wanted to do business with’
Trump co-owned the Miss Universe Organization from 1996 to 2015 until he sold his ownership to the WME-IMG talent agency for an unknown price after he announced his run for president.
Shi Lim, who competed as Miss Singapore in 2013, told the New Yorker: ‘The finalists were picked by Trump. He was really in charge. We called it the Trump card.’
Adwoa Yamoah, who competed as Miss Canada in 2012, added: ‘He made comments about every girl: “I’ve been to that country.” “We’re building a Trump Tower there.”
‘It was clear the countries that he liked did well. He basically told us he picked nine of the top fifteen.’
Yamoah claimed that after Trump had spoken with a contestant he liked, he would whisper to Paula Shugart, the president of the Miss Universe Organization, who would write down his notes.
Kerrie Baylis, who was Miss Jamaica in 2013, noted that finalists were often from countries ‘Trump did business with, or wanted to do business with.’
A 2013 preliminary judge said he was stunned when he read some of the names of the 15 women advancing to the final round because none of the judges said they voted for them.
He said: ‘They told us not to share how we voted with each other, but we did anyway.
‘I was shocked. I didn’t know what had happened. I felt ridiculous.’
That year the finalists were women from Venezuela, Spain, Ecuador, Philippines, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Great Britain, India, Ukraine, United States, China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Switzerland.
During Trump’s 19 years with Miss Universe, multiple pageants have been hosted in cities where Trump had business interests there. And several finalists are from countries where ratings are consistently high
Miss Universe 2013 was Gabriela Isler from Venezuela, a country that had a contestant in the finals 16 times under Trump’s 19 years with Miss Universe.
Venezuela also donated $500,000 to Trump’s inauguration fund, despite their economic turmoil, according to an April 2017 report from CNBC.
In 2013, Trump took the pageant to Moscow, Russia, and was considering the prospect of building a Trump Tower in the city.
Before his visit, Trump expressed his interest to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and tweeted at him, saying: ‘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?’
His visit was also mentioned in the infamous Steele Dossier, a launching point for speculation there were links between Trump and Russia.
The reports of collusion eventually capitulated Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
The controversial report by ex-British spy Christopher Steele contains accusations that Trump had prostitutes take ‘golden showers’, or urinate, on a bed that President Barack Obama and Michelle slept in while they were visiting the country.
Steele also claimed that Russia had worked to discover Trump’s ‘personal obsessions and sexual perversion in order to obtain suitable ‘kompromat’, which could be used against him.
In 2013, Trump took the pageant to Moscow and was considering building a Trump Tower there. The visit also appeared in the infamous Steele Dossier, a launching point for speculation there were links between Trump and Russia and eventually capitulating Special counsel Robert Mueller’s (right) Russia investigation
Trump chose Moscow as the site for the 2013 pageant. Before his visit, Trump tweeted: ‘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?’
The document, compiled by Steele from June to December 2016, also alleges that Russia had been ‘cultivating, supporting and assisting Trump for at least 5 years.’
On Friday, Mueller rocked Washington when he filed criminal charges against 13 Russians and two Russian companies as part of his probe into foreign election interference in 2016.
Mueller’s office said the defendants laid the groundwork for targeting U.S. elections in 2014 – and that by mid-2016 they were actively ‘supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump … and disparaging Hillary Clinton.’
According to Mueller’s team, the plot began in 2014, shortly after Trump visited Russia in November 2013.
But U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told reporters that the Justice Department is not saying the Trump campaign was involved or had any knowledge of the plot.
And as Trump was leaving Washington for the weekend on Friday, he drove that point home on Twitter, writing: ‘Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!’