President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump, Jr., reportedly met before the 2016 election with an emissary for the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The August 3, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower included Eric Prince, the founder of Blackwater, George Nader who was representing the crown princes and Israeli social media manipulation expert Joel Zamel.
Citing a person with knowledge of the meeting, Donald Trump Jr. "responded approvingly" to a presentation on a multimillion-dollar plan to manipulate social media. The Times could not confirm whether the proposal was executed.
Following the meeting, Nader became a close ally of the Trump campaign, meeting frequently with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and former Gen. Michael Flynn.
Nader reportedly paid Zamel a large sum following Trump's victory, which may have been as much as $2 million.
"The meetings, which have not been reported previously, are the first indication that countries other than Russia may have offered assistance to the Trump campaign in the months before the presidential election," The Times explained. "The interactions are a focus of the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, who was originally tasked with examining possible Trump campaign coordination with Russia in the election."
