Trump and KGB: How It All Began. Part 1 in a Series

How the Czech StB and Soviet KGB First Became Interested in Trump in the 1970s and 1980s

Author’s Note: Clearly something is going on with Donald Trump and Russia. His actions in the past week make it absolutely clear that at a minimum, he sees a synchronicity between US interests and Russian interests and wants to reshape US foreign policy around that belief. This is the benign explanation. It is, as intelligence analysts like to say, a “possibility not to be excluded.” And I do not exclude it. A benign explanation is indeed possible. But Trump’s actions feel like a defection from Team Free World to Team Russia and its authoritarian partners. This troubles me, and has prompted me to decide to invest the time and effort necessary to take a meaningful ‘deeper look’ into the entire history of Donald Trump and the KGB. I do not go into this with a pre-determined conclusion. I’m a former CIA officer/Russia specialist and professional investigator and I bring that mindset to the process. I just want to take a good, hard, detailed look at it and see where that leads. I will reach conclusions after the work is done. I invite you to join me on this journey and I welcome your comments and reactions.

Part 1 -

The Rise of Donald Trump in the 1970s

After graduating from the Wharton School of Finance in 1968, Trump joined his father's company, Trump Management, which focused on middle-class rental housing in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. In 1971, at the age of 25, he became president of the company and rebranded it as The Trump Organization, signaling his ambitions to expand its scope and influence.​

Trump's early ventures included the successful turnaround of the troubled Swifton Village apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the development of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan. The latter project, which involved the transformation of the aging Commodore Hotel into a gleaming glass-fronted landmark, was completed in 1980 and played a significant role in revitalizing the surrounding area. These high-profile projects, combined with his assertive personality and media savvy, propelled Trump into the public eye and established him as a rising star in the real estate industry.​

Trump’s political involvement included supporting Jimmy Carter in 1976. He was quoted as saying he favored the Democrats because of $20 billion in housing programs and federal subsidies that he felt certain would directly benefit his company. He made an initial contribution of $1,000 to the Carter campaign, then was asked by a journalist if he would give more. “Is that permissible?” he asked. “Then I will give another $1,000.”

By 1977, Donald Trump was well established as a prominent figure in New York City's real estate landscape.

Before Trump-KGB, there Was Trump-StB—the Czech Security Service

Trump and Ivana

Ivana Trump, born Ivana Marie Zelníčková on February 20, 1949, in Gottwaldov (now Zlín), Czechoslovakia, was the only child of Marie, a telephone operator, and Miloš Zelníček, an engineer. She was a natural athlete, and recognizing this, her father nurtured her skiing talents, leading her to compete with the Czechoslovak national ski team during her youth. She pursued higher education at Charles University in Prague, where she studied physical education.

In 1968, she married Alfred Winklmayr, an Austrian ski instructor. This marriage allowed her to obtain Austrian citizenship, which in turn facilitated her departure from communist Czechoslovakia. After their divorce in 1973, she relocated to Canada, where she worked as a ski instructor and later ventured into modeling. Her modeling career eventually brought her to New York City in 1976, where she was promoting the upcoming Montreal Olympics, scheduled for later that year.

It was during this 1976 trip to New York that Ivana met Donald Trump. According to her memoir, Trump secured a table for Ivana and her friends at a popular Manhattan restaurant, paid the bill, and provided them with transportation back to their hotel. This chance meeting led to a whirlwind romance, culminating in their marriage on April 9, 1977, at Marble Collegiate Church, officiated by Norman Vincent Peale.

The StB Takes an Interest

A declassified June 1977 StB report from an informant with the cover name “Lubos” described Ivana’s departure from Czechoslovakia to Austria, her marriage to Winklmayr, and reported additional details including that she had worked in Autria at a petrol station. After the divorce, the informant claimed, she emigrated to Canada and in 1977 married the American Donald Trump. The StB file contains a travel permit that had allowed Ivana to leave Czechoslovakia, as well as the initial report from Lubos.

Ivana Zelnickova Travel Permit allowing exist from Czechoslovakia

Ivana’s Father, Miloš Zelníček

According to Czeck historian Tomas Vilimek: “An encrypted document from 1979 states that the phone calls between Ivana and her father were to be wiretapped at least once per year. Their mail exchange was monitored.” The report also references Trump children’s visits to their grandfather in Czechoslovakia, and notes that Ivana spoke Czech with her children when they were in the US. The report also noted who the friends and acquaintances of her family in the CSSR were. Vilmek goes on to say: “Ivana’s father was registered as a confidant of the StB. However, that does not mean he was an agent. The CSSR authorities forced him to talk to them because of his journeys to the US and his daughter. Otherwise, he would not have been allowed to fly.”

Indeed, the “once a year” wiretap in 1979 was likely undertaken as a control measure to ensure Miloš Zelníček was reporting truthfully, because in fact he had been recruited as an informant two years earlier, in 1977, not long after his daughter married Trump.

The exact details of how Zelníček was recruited remain partially obscured, but available records suggest a combination of coercion and strategic pressure:​

• Airport Interception: During a trip to the United States for Ivana's wedding in 1977, Zelníček was subjected to a search of his possessions at the airport upon his return to Czechoslovakia. This action was interpreted as a warning, signaling that cooperation with the StB was necessary for future international travel permissions. Historian Petr Blažek noted, "The intervention at the airport was carried out on the orders of an StB officer."

• Coercion and Compliance: The StB often employed tactics that leveraged an individual's desire for personal or familial well-being. In Zelníček's case, his wish to maintain contact with his daughter and her new family in the U.S. would have made him susceptible to StB pressure. By cooperating, he could ensure the possibility of future visits and avoid potential repercussions.​

Role and Classification

Within the StB's framework, informants were categorized based on their level of involvement and the nature of the information they provided:​

• Conspiratorial Informant: Zelníček was designated as a "conspiratorial" informant, indicating a clandestine relationship with the StB. This classification suggests that while he was not a formal agent, he maintained a covert channel of communication with the secret police, providing information discreetly. (MS Comment: He was not, as some have suggested, ‘in the StB” - rather he was co-opted by the StB to report on Trump and Ivana.)

In Zelníček's case, his role as an informant involved relaying information about his daughter's activities and her husband's burgeoning career in the United States. There is no evidence to suggest that he underwent formal training or was assigned specific espionage missions, distinguishing him from a full-fledged agent.​

The StB’s Operation “Ivana”

Under the code name “Ivana”, the StB undertook an operaation designed to surveill trump through Milos and other sources, with the goal of assessing whether Trump might show promise as a potential recruitment target. A key component to the operation was reporting Zelníček provided the StB on his daughter's life in the United States, including insights into Trump's real estate projects and his nascent political aspirations. This familial connection offered the StB a strong vantage point into Trump's affairs, enabling them to monitor his activities closely. The Czeck service maintained an active dossier, meticulously documenting his business dealings and public statements. This assessment extended beyond Ivana's familial ties, reflecting a broader strategy to cultivate influential Western figures who could be leveraged to serve Eastern Bloc interests. ​

According to Czeck historian Tomas Vilimek: “An encrypted document from 1979 states that the phone calls between Ivana and her father were to be wiretapped at least once per year. Their mail exchange was monitored.” The Communist secret police even observed the Trump children’s visits to their grandfather. The informers noted that Ivana Trump spoke Czech with her children when they were in the US and noted who the friends and acquaintances of her family in the CSSR were.

Enter the KGB

As a general rule, the activities of the StB were closely coordinated with their “big brother” organization, the KGB. This collaboration would have aimed to assess and, if the results of assessment were favorable, exploit Trump's growing prominence in American society, with both agencies sharing intelligence and strategizing on potential avenues to influence or recruit him. ​

Donald and Ivana Trump at the funder of Milos, Ivana’s father, in 1990..

According to former KGB officer Yury Shvets, the beginning of KGB’s active direct involvement with Trump (as opposed to indirect contact via StB), occurred in 1980 as Trump was in the final stages of converting the Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt New York. According to Shvets, Trump purchased 200 television sets from Semyon “Sam” Kislin, a Ukrainian Jew who emigrated from Odessa in 1972 and was co-owner of a small mid-town electronics store operating under the name Joy-Lud Electronis. Like many Jewish emigre’s, Kislin had been coopted by the KGB

Kislin, according to Shvets, was a “spotter agent” who, through the transaction with Trump, provided assessment and access to Trump which the KGB would use to good advantage. It was from this point forward, that the KGB would begin active cultivation of Donald Trump.

To be continued.