Trump invited Putin to 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow with this personal letter

Illustration: Rob Beschizza

Donald Trump was so eager for Vladi­mir Putin to attend his 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, he personally wrote the Russian President a letter inviting him. Robert Mueller's investigative team somehow got a copy of the document. It is the first known communication that shows Trump trying to establish contact directly with Putin.

Trump's handwritten postscript at the bottom of the letter said he looked forward to seeing "beautiful" women on his trip to Russia.

From the Washington Post, citing multiple people familiar with the document:

At the bottom of the typed letter, Trump scrawled a postscript adding that he looked forward to seeing "beautiful" women during his trip.

Trump's letter to Putin, which was described by people with knowledge of its contents, shows how interested he was in attracting the personal attention of the Russian president. The real estate magnate, who owned the Miss Universe pageant, wrote the note at a time when he was looking to expand his brand to Russia.

The letter, the first known attempt at direct outreach by Trump to Putin, has been turned over to investigators probing Russia's interference in the 2016 campaign. It is unclear whether Trump's missive was ever delivered to the Russian president — and if so, whether Putin responded.

John Dowd, an attorney for President Trump, said he was not familiar with the letter. "It's all nonsense," he said. A White House spokesman and attorneys for the Trump Organization declined to comment.

Trump wasn't hiding his bromance ambitions back then.

In a June 18, 2013, tweet, Trump wrote: "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?"

When he arrived in Russia in 2013 for the pageant, he did an interview with MSNBC in which he was asked about his relationship to Vladimir Putin.

"I do have a relationship, and I can tell you that he's very interested in what we're doing here today," Trump told a reporter, while in Moscow.