Shooting down Russia’s overhyped missiles with Patriots is a win for more than just Ukraine. The war is an ‘intelligence bonanza’ for the West.
Chris Panella – January 5, 2024
The Patriot missile system is a ground-based, mobile missile-defense interceptor deployed by the US.U.S. Army Security Assistance Command Shooting down Russia’s overhyped missiles with Patriots is a win for more than just Ukraine. The war is an ‘intelligence bonanza’ for the West.
Ukraine says it has shot down 25 Russian Kinzhal missiles with Patriot systems since last May.
Any such kill improves the Patriot’s accuracy and algorithms, benefiting other users of the system.
It’s invaluable intelligence for the West and further highlights the need for more air defenses.
Ukraine’s made good use of its Western-provided Patriot air-defense systems, shooting down plenty of Russian missiles, aircraft, and drones, including some advanced, albeit overhyped, weaponry.
But the intercepts, while a win for Ukraine, are also gathering hoards of data for other Patriot operators, making the system smarter and better. It’s just one example of how the war in Ukraine is, as one missile-defense expert told Business Insider, an “intelligence bonanza.”
And as Ukraine defeats threats, there’s also a growing recognition of the importance of robust air and missile defenses, vital for defending and deterrence and, in Ukraine’s case, survival amid an increase in missile and drone attacks.
On Tuesday, Ukraine said it shot down all 10 of the new Kinzhals fired during a vicious air assault, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine praising the incident as “what heroism supplied with advanced systems looks like.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, too, hailed Western-provided air defenses like Patriots, IRIS-T, and NASAMS for saving “hundreds of lives.”
The reported kills nearly doubled the tally of Kinzhals destroyed in the war. Just Sunday, Ukraine said it had shot down 15 Kinzhal missiles using Patriot batteries since the first recorded intercept last May, which was confirmed by the Pentagon.
The Patriot air-defence system during Polish military training at the airport in Warsaw, Poland, in February of last year.REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
A Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson, Col. Yurii Ihnat, praised the Patriot’s ability to counter a variety of missile threats. The rate at which the Patriot may have intercepted Kinzhals indicates Ukraine has learned well how to operate its Western air defenses and developed a strong defense against the missile the Russians have touted as an unstoppable hypersonic weapon.
But Ukraine is not the only one benefiting from these engagements. For other Patriot operators, such as the US, new data about how to counter specific threats, such as the Kinzhal, is incredibly useful information.
“Every Ukrainian downing of Russian hypersonic Kh-47M2 Kinzhal with the Patriot missiles will improve the Patriot missile intercept algorithm — and increase accuracy for all Patriot systems, a benefit for the US, the rest of NATO, and other Patriot AD users,” Jan Kallberg, a senior fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis who was a professor at West Point, posted on X.
That data is valuable for both the US and its NATO allies, giving them a rare opportunity to live test systems and learn more about how not only to engage but also defeat Russian weaponry.
“The larger point is the intelligence bonanza that we are capitalizing on by observing or capturing Russian systems” without actually having any troops on the ground, Tom Karako, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who’s the director of the Missile Defense Project there, told Business Insider. He said the opportunity was giving the US valuable data on Russia for potential future conflicts.
US soldiers with the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment after a routine inspection of a Patriot missile battery at a military base in Gaziantep, Turkey.US Army photo
Russia’s Kinzhal is an advanced air-launched ballistic missile that has been celebrated by Kremlin officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, for its “unique flight characteristics,” high speed, maneuverability, and ability to “overcome all existing” and “prospective antiaircraft and antimissile defense systems,” characteristics that supposedly make it unbeatable.
The MIM-104 “Patriot” air-defense battery, an older system that first entered service in the 1980s but has nonetheless been praised by the Pentagon as “one of the world’s most advanced air-defense systems,” arrived on the battlefield in April 2023. The system, once operational, quickly put an end to Russian narratives about the Kinzhal, shooting one down in early May.
Later that month, Ukraine said its Patriot air defenses eliminated six more of these missiles.
The Kinzhal is an advanced capability, but so far, it hasn’t really lived up to its overhyped narrative of being an unstoppable hypersonic missile.
“The Kinzhal doesn’t fit into the category of either a scramjet cruise missile or a hypersonic boost-glide vehicle,” Karako explained.
He added that the term “hypersonic,” when used to refer to the Kinzhal missile, tended to be in a more literal sense, as in it could exceed speeds of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.
But while the Kinzhal is going fast, “it doesn’t really constitute sustained and controlled flight in the hypersonic flight regime,” Karako explained, adding that “it’s essentially a somewhat maneuvering ballistic missile.”
Maj. Peter Mitchell, an air-defense officer who’s an instructor at West Point, previously characterized Russia’s Kinzhal as “more akin to a giant lawn dart loaded with explosives,” saying it wasn’t capable of sharp turns or quick changes in flight direction.
That doesn’t mean Ukraine’s reported wins aren’t impressive — or that it’s not a boon for the US and its partners to see Russia use the Kinzhal. Instead, it’s quite the opposite.
Similar to just about any data collected in the war, whether it’s information on how Russia’s operating its Shahed one-way exploding drones, defending against Ukrainian strikes, or pounding Ukrainian defenses, the takeaway is a beneficial one for the West: By helping defend Ukraine, they learn more about how their enemy could fight them in the future.
The Patriot system firing in Greece in November 2017 as part of a NATO exercise.Sebastian Apel/U.S. Department of Defense, via AP
Ukraine’s successes with the Patriot and other Western systems also highlight the enormous importance of air and missile defenses.
While the drone war being fought between Ukraine and Russia has been eye-opening for many armies, including the US, the air campaigns have also reinforced the realization of how much armed forces need robust air defenses.
The successful engagement of “high-end missile threats from a major power like Russia is ratifying and bolstering the demand signal for both the Patriot family and other air defenses more broadly,” Karako said.
During his December visit to Washington to plead for more aid amid Republican roadblocks in Congress, Zelenskyy expressed a dire need for more Patriot batteries in Ukraine. But the demand goes beyond that.
Take, for example, recent news of a handful of NATO nations’ plans to buy 1,000 Patriot missiles or Japan’s landmark decision to remove its self-imposed ban on weapons exports to transfer dozens of missiles to the US. Other air-defense systems, too, have been prioritized, as seen in the US aid packages to Israel in recent months.
“We’re seeing an increased salience and demand for air and missile defense because missiles have become ‘weapons of choice,'” Karako said. He said air and missile defense was not a peripheral concern but rather a central concern.
Not just command post: Russian defense system damaged in Crimea
Ukrainska Pravda – January 5, 2024
Photo: Crimean Wind on Telegram
The attack on Russia’s military facilities in occupied Crimea on 4 January destroyed not only a command post but also severely damaged the Russian defense system on the peninsula. Ukraine’s Defense Forces also targeted the new deployment of Shahed kamikaze UAVs on the peninsula.
Source: Nataliia Humeniuk, Head of the Joint Press Centre for Operational Command Pivden (South), in a comment to Suspilne, Ukraine’s public broadcaster
Quote: “Not only was a command post hit, but a serious combat activity took place over the past 24 hours, including severe damage to the defence system on the Crimean Peninsula.”
Details: Humeniuk says this is not the first such case that prompted the Russians to seriously reshape their defence system.
“They are now once again experiencing the same hysteria with relocations, trying to manoeuvre and place both the defence systems and the assets they protect in other places,” the official said.
Furthermore, Humeniuk noted that the Russian military has recently relocated launch sites for the Shahed UAVs. Although they mostly used Cape Chauda before, some launches were recorded near the settlement of Balaklava after several high-impact strikes by the Ukrainian forces.
“This is the focus of the Defence Forces’ efforts, to make the enemy not feel so safe in these areas and to always remember that Crimea is Ukrainian, and we are fighting for it,” she said.
The official also believes that the explosions near the Crimean Bridge are more of a smokescreen, “an attempt to protect this redundant configuration target.”
Quote from Humeniuk: “However, the very concern and fears for its fate are not groundless. Our combat work is ongoing, there are still many sites we need to deal with. And we will definitely report on every tangible result if it is worthy of announcement.”
Details: A resident of the village of Lisnivka, Yevpatoriia district (formerly Sakskyi district), told Suspilne.Krym that he had heard four strong explosions at different intervals late on the evening of 4 January, which shook the windows.
“I heard four explosions at different intervals at night. I heard the first two at 21:30, then two more around 23:00. The explosions were intense, the windows were shaking,” he said.
Background:
On 4 January, powerful explosions struck the cities of Yevpatoriia and Sevastopol (Crimea). The traffic on the Crimean Bridge was suspended at the time. One of the Ukrainian missiles hit the command post in Yukharyna Balka airfield in Sevastopol.
The Office of Strategic Communications of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the damage to the command post in Sevastopol. Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, praised the Ukrainian pilots and everyone involved in planning the operation in occupied Crimea on 4 January for their “impeccable combat work”.
At the same time, the Atesh military partisan movement reported that the Ukrainian forces, following a tip-off from the partisans, also struck a Russian military unit in Yevpatoriia, where the Russians had moved their radar systems.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, Russian-appointed sham “governor” of Sevastopol, claimed that one person was injured when the wreckage crashed into a house, and that missile wreckage fell on different streets.
In the late evening of 4 January, reports circulated of explosions in the Kerch Strait area, repulsion of attacks near Sevastopol, evacuation of a hundred people, and strikes near the town of Saky.
On 4 January, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed that ten missiles had been shot down over Crimea and one drone over the Black Sea, while on the night of 4-5 January, another 36 drones had supposedly been shot down over the peninsula.
Putin’s hypersonic bluster has been exposed by Ukraine’s American Patriots
David Axe – January 4, 2024
Russia’s biggest-ever air raids targeting Ukrainian cities have killed scores of Ukrainians, injured many others and traumatized potentially millions in a country that’s bracing for its third year of full-scale war.
But these same air raids were an important reminder that Russian superweapons aren’t always so super. At least, not compared to the best Western air-defenses – especially the American Patriot surface-to-air missile.
On December 29, Ukrainian air defences shot down 114 of 158 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles the Russians launched at Ukrainian cities. During a second wave of attacks on January 2, the Ukrainians shot down 107 of 134 drones and missiles.
Most notably, Ukrainian missile batteries – Patriots, apparently – shot down 10 of 10 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles the Russians fired in the latter raid. Russian president Vladimir Putin once declared the air-launched, maneuverable Kinzhal to be “invincible.”
That was a lie. If anything, it’s one of the easier Russian munitions for the Ukrainians to defeat. And the failure of the Kinzhal has cast doubt over the whole class of hypersonic missiles – any munition that travels at least five times the speed of sound through the atmosphere while maneuvering. In 2018, Putin listed the Kinzhal as one of six Russian “super weapons”, unstoppable by any adversary. It’s clear that in at least one case, he was wrong.
Armies, navies and air forces all over the world are counting on speedy hypersonic missiles to give them a firepower advantage. But unless these pricey weapons perform better than the Kinzhal, their efforts might be misguided.
The 24-foot Kinzhal is an air-launched version of Russia’s first hypersonic missile, the ground-launched Iskander. The Russian air force launches the multi-million-dollar Kinzhals from a small force of specially-modified MiG-31 interceptors.
A Kinzhal ranges as far as 1,200 miles, which is more than a thousand miles farther than the best Ukrainian air-defenses can reach. That impressive range keeps the MiG-31 out of harm’s way, but it does nothing to protect the Kinzhal itself in the final minutes of its flight.
As a Kinzhal approaches within a hundred miles of its target – usually some Ukrainian city – it’s fair game for Ukraine’s Patriot PAC-2 and PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles. Ukrainian Patriots have been swatting down Kinzhals since at least May. But their greatest success came on January 2, when they shot down every Kinzhal in the sky.
Observers have scrutinized videos of the attacks to understand the Kinzhal’s disappointing performance. Disappointing to the Kremlin, that is.
A Ukrainian captured the final seconds of a Kinzhal’s flight on January 2 and helpfully uploaded the video to social media. Because we know how long a Kinzhal is, it’s a straightforward exercise to measure the missile’s speed as it plummeted to the ground. It seems the vaunted missile traveled no faster than Mach 1.9.
The implications are important. While a Kinzhal might speed along at Mach 5 or faster during the most efficient, high-altitude phase of its flight – right after launch – it slows down a lot as it descends and nears its target. As it gets lower and slower, it’s easy pickings for Patriot batteries.
And it’s going to get even easier for air defences to target Kinzhal and similar missiles. Each engagement is a learning opportunity, after all. “Every Ukrainian downing of Russian hypersonic Kh-47M2 Kinzhal with the Patriot missiles will improve the Patriot missile-intercept algorithm,” explained Jan Kallberg, a missile expert with the Center for European Policy Analysis.
A MiG-31 fighter jet of the Russian air force launches the Kinzhal hypersonic missile during a test. The Kinzhal has proven unable to defeat the American Patriot interceptor – Russian Defense Ministry Press Service
This not only improves Ukrainian Patriot batteries, it also benefits Patriots belonging to allied countries. “Data quality is high because it is live-tested,” Kallberg added. “It is not a desk job or theoretical calculation; this is data from a successful intercept.”
In that sense, every Patriot battery or missile reload that Ukraine’s allies donate to the war effort is an investment in their own defenses against hypersonic missiles – and not just Kinzhals. The more Kinzhals the Patriots shoot down over Ukraine, the better the American-made missiles get at intercepting all kinds of hypersonic missiles.
Even Chinese ones. Taiwan, take note.
It remains to be seen whether that argument will sway fickle Western politicians, however. Pro-Russia Republicans in the US Congress have, for months, refused to vote on $61 billion in fresh US military aid to Ukraine – aid that could pay for a lot of Patriot components and reloads.
Ukraine has just three full Patriot batteries, each of which has radars and several launchers. That’s enough to protect just three cities: presumably Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa. Ukraine needs additional Patriot batteries, and many more missiles to keep them in action during intensive drone and missile raids.
A consortium of Nato countries including Germany, The Netherlands, Romania and Spain recently signaled its intention to order, from US maker Raytheon, a fresh batch of 1,000 Patriot missiles. The nearly $6-billion order will support a new production line for the missiles in Germany.
It’s unclear whether Ukraine will benefit from this expanded production, however. If Nato is serious about defeating Russia, some of those missiles should go to Ukraine, where air-defenders are fighting a winning battle against Russia’s “invincible” hypersonic missiles.
Putin to grant citizenship to foreigners who sign 1-year contract with Russian army
Ukrainska Pravda – January 4, 2024
Stock photo: Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting Russian citizenship to foreign nationals who signed a contract with the Russian Armed Forces during the war against Ukraine, as well as to their family members.
Details: Russian media and the document on the portal of legal acts
Quote from the decree: “To establish that the following may apply for Russian citizenship: foreign citizens who have signed a contract for military service in the Russian Armed Forces or in military formations during the period of the special military operation [as Russians call the war in Ukraine – ed.].”
Details: The contract must be concluded for a period of at least one year.
Family members of foreigners who have signed a contract with the Russian defence ministry will also be eligible for Russian citizenship. This includes spouses, children and parents.
The decree reportedly comes into force on the day of its publication.
The Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta (New Newspaper) pointed out that Putin already signed a similar decree in September 2022.
The difference between the decrees lies in the timeframe for reviewing the application. In the previous version, it was three months, while in the new version, it is only one.
Also, the old version of the document stated that the applicant must have served in the Ministry of Defence for at least six months. The new version does not contain this clause.
The publication writes that the new document cancels the previous one.
Background:
In March 2023, it was reported that Russia was recruiting young Palestinians and was also looking for Syrians to take part in the war against Ukraine, and that about 300 people had already been sent to the front.
Russian media: Blackouts reported in Moscow following energy facility fire
Martin Fornusek – January 4, 2024
A fire erupted in a substation in Russia’s capital on Jan. 4, causing electricity and heating outages in dozens of multi-story buildings amid freezing temperatures, Russian media reported.
The cause of the fire has not been reported. The incident took place only a few days after Russian attacks against Kyiv Oblast left 260,000 Ukrainian citizens temporarily without power.
The Russian Telegram news channel Mash reported that the fire erupted at a substation in northeastern Moscow at around 6 a.m. local time, causing outages in the municipal districts of Otradnoye, Bibirevo, as well as Northern and Southern Medvedkovo.
The temperature in the affected buildings had reportedly dropped to 10-15 degrees Celsius. According to Russian media, the night of Jan. 4 was the coldest in Moscow since the beginning of winter, with the temperatures dropping to minus 27.1 degrees.
At around 8:46, Mash reported that the fire had been extinguished and utility workers were working on site.
Most houses were switched to a backup circuit, the state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported at around 9:10 a.m., adding that some 40 buildings will be connected within the next two hours.
US and allies continue discussions on transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine — Kirby
The New Voice of Ukraine – January 4, 2024
The US continues discussions with its allies on the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine
The United States, along with its allies, is still in discussions regarding the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, White House National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby said during a press briefing on Jan. 3.
While the focus is currently on supporting Kyiv in countering Russian aggression, the U.S. is still engaged in conversations “with our partners about what the post-war reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine should look like.
“But obviously our main focus right now is to help them counter Russian aggression,” Kirby said.
The U.S., in collaboration with the EU, is exploring legal avenues to redirect $300 billion of Russian assets for the reconstruction and other needs of Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Oct. 5.
The Group of Seven (G7) is approaching the possibility of seizure of Russian assets for transfer to Ukraine, the Financial Times wrote on Dec. 16.
The United States, which had not previously publicly supported the idea of confiscation, told its G7 allies that it had found the funds to seize assets “in accordance with international law.”
“G7 members may take action to confiscate Russia’s sovereign assets as a retaliatory measure to end Russia’s aggression,” said the U.S. document, which was distributed to G7 committees.
Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron held a telephone conversation to discuss support for Ukraine, the State Department reported on Jan. 2.
Trump’s businesses received millions from foreign entities during his presidency, House report says
Will Steakin – January 4, 2024
Former President Donald Trump’s businesses received millions of dollars from foreign entities located in 20 different countries during his presidency, according to a new report released Thursday by Democrats on the House Oversight committee.
The top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin, released the report and provided documents from Trump’s former accounting firm that show that 20 governments, including China and Saudi Arabia, paid at least $7.8 million during Trump’s presidency to business entities that included Trump International Hotels in Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas, and Trump Towers in New York.
The 156-page report by House Democrats is entitled “White House For Sale.”
In the forward to the report, Raskin wrote, “By elevating his personal financial interests and the policy priorities of corrupt foreign powers over the American public interest, former President Trump violated both the clear commands of the Constitution and the careful precedent set and observed by every previous commander in chief.”
The reports says that, according to “limited records” obtained by the committee, Saudi Arabia likely paid Trump-owned business at least $615,422 during Trump’s first term in office.
“While the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was making these payments, President Trump chose Saudi Arabia as the destination of his first overseas trip — a choice that was unprecedented among U.S. presidents,” the report says.
PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump attends a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, Dec. 19, 2023. (Scott Morgan/Reuters, FILE)
The report claims that the payments violated the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, a rule that bars the president and other federal officials from accepting money or gifts from foreign governments without Congressional approval.
In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed lawsuits accusing Trump of profiting from his presidency, on the grounds that he is no longer in office.
“Through entities he owned and controlled, President Trump accepted, at a minimum, millions of dollars in foreign emoluments in violation of the United States Constitution,” Democrats write in the report. “The documents obtained from former President Trump’s accounting firm demonstrate that four Trump-owned properties together collected, at the least, millions of dollars in payments from foreign governments and officials that violated the Constitution’s prohibition on emoluments ‘of any kind whatever’ from foreign governments.”
ABC News has reached out to Trump’s representatives for comment on the report.
Related:
AFP
Foreign govts paid Trump firms millions while president: report
AFP – January 4, 2024
A Chinese embassy delegation spent $19,391 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC (CHIP SOMODEVILLA)
Former US president Donald Trump‘s businesses received at least $7.8 million from foreign governments including China during his time in the White House, a congressional report claimed Thursday.
Officials from Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey and Democratic Republic of Congo were among some 20 countries’ representatives who paid money to Trump’s hotel and real estate businesses during his presidency, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee wrote in their report.
The authors claim that such revenues from overseas governments violated a constitutional ban on “foreign emoluments.”
“As President, Donald Trump accepted more than $7.8 million in payments from foreign states and their leaders, including some of the world’s most unsavory regimes,” said the report titled “White House for Sale.”
“We know about only some of the payments that passed into former President Trump’s hands during just two years of his presidency from just 20 of the more than 190 nations in the world through just four of his more than 500 businesses.”
– ‘Prohibited emoluments’ –
In the case of China, the report alleged that Beijing as well as businesses including ICBC bank and Hainan Airlines spent $5.5 million at Trump-owned properties.
“Former President Trump violated the Constitution when the businesses he owned accepted these emoluments paid by (Beijing) without the consent of Congress,” the report said.
The authors say that the full amount could be higher as the $5.5 million figure is based only on limited disclosures from Trump’s accountants Mazars and filings with the American financial regulator, the SEC.
In one expenditure dated August 27, 2017, a Chinese embassy delegation spent $19,391 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
The report also claims that “Saudi Arabia paid at least $615,422 in prohibited emoluments to former President Trump’s businesses over the course of his term in office from just (the Trump World Tower) and the March 2018 stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.”
“Former President Trump has also boasted about the continued willingness of the Saudis to do business on terms highly favorable to him,” the report stated.
Trump’s Washington hotel was sold in 2022 to a private investor group and rebranded under the luxury Waldorf Astoria line.
The frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Trump separately faces a civil fraud trial in New York over claims that his real estate businesses fraudulently inflated the value of their assets.
He is to go on trial in Washington in March for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and in Florida in May on charges of mishandling top secret government documents.
The twice-impeached former president also faces racketeering charges in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to upend the election results in the southern state after his 2020 defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.
Related:
CNN
China spent over $5.5 million at Trump properties while he was in office, documents show
Zachary Cohen and Kara Scannell, CNN – January 4, 2024
Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images
The Chinese government and its state-controlled entities spent over $5.5 million at properties owned by Donald Trump while he was in office, the largest total of payments made by any single foreign country known to date, according to financial documents cited in a report from House Democrats released Thursday.
Those payments collectively included millions of dollars from China’s Embassy in the United States, a state-owned Chinese bank accused by the US Justice Department of helping North Korea evade sanctions and a state-owned Chinese air transit company. Accounting records from Trump’s former accounting firm, Mazars USA, were obtained by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
China is one of 20 countries that made at least $7.8 million in total payments to Trump-owned businesses and properties during the former president’s stint in the White House, including his hotels in Washington DC, New York and Las Vegas, the report states.
The documents offer additional evidence of the rare practice of foreign governments spending money directly with businesses owned by a sitting president but are not a complete record of all foreign payments made to Trump’s businesses during his time in the White House.
At the time, Trump’s lawyer said the former president planned to donate foreign profits from his hotels to the US Treasury Department. However, the amount reportedly donated by the Trump Organization in 2017 and 2018 falls well short of estimated foreign payments that were made to its properties.
Trump refused to divest himself of corporate assets and properties prior to taking office, meaning he could still profit from his various businesses with little transparency.
Democrats say the additional accounting records raise new questions about possible efforts to influence Trump through his companies while he was in the White House.
As an example, committee Democrats point to the fact that Trump declined to impose sanctions on the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), a state-owned entity that leased property at Trump Tower in New York.
A Securities and Exchange Commission filing from 2012 shows that the Chinese bank’s base rent paid was $1.9 million and documents produced by Mazars confirm the bank stayed in Trump Tower through 2019 at least.
In 2016, the Justice Department accused the bank of conspiring with a North Korean bank to evade US sanctions.
But upon taking office, Trump did not sanction ICBC despite calls from Republican members of Congress to “apply maximum financial and diplomatic pressure” by “targeting more Chinese banks that do business with North Korea,” House Oversight Committee Democrats wrote in a report summarizing the contents of the Mazars USA records.
Asked about China’s payments to Trump-owned properties, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told CNN, “China adheres to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and does not comment on issues related to US domestic politics.”
“At the same time, I want to stress that the Chinese government always requires Chinese companies to operate overseas in accordance with local laws and regulations. China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial. China opposes the US politicizing China-US economic and trade issues,” Pengyu added.
The Trump Organization says it donated over $450,000 in estimated profits from foreign government patronage to the US Treasury over the time of Trump’s term. The company also worked to track all foreign government business across its entire portfolio and did not make new business investments overseas while Trump was in office.
In a statement, Eric Trump said that the former president was tough on China regardless of any business interests.
“There is no President in United States history who was tougher on China than Donald Trump … a President who introduced billions and billions of dollars worth of tariffs on their goods and services,” Eric Trump said.
Democrats also argue that the Mazar documents show Trump repeatedly violated the US Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits a president from receiving an “emolument,” or profit, from any “King, Prince, or foreign State” unless Congress consents. Yet despite ethical concerns that have been raised about Trump’s lack of adherence to constitutional norms that were embraced by his predecessors, legislation to enforce the Emoluments Clause has gone nowhere in Congress.
The committee, which has investigated Trump’s businesses and his lease of the Old Post Office in Washington from the US government that housed his hotel, was provided the records following a years-long court battle that ended in a settlement in 2022.
Many of the documents in the subset released Thursday have not been previously made public.
“These countries spent – often lavishly – on apartments and hotel stays at Donald Trump’s properties – personally enriching President Trump while he made foreign policy decisions connected to their policy agendas with far-reaching ramifications for the United States,” Democrats wrote in their report.
Saudi Arabia, for example, spent roughly $600,000 at Trump-owned properties during his time in office and was making significant payments in May 2017 when it signed a massive arms deal with the Trump administration.
The Trump administration agreed to the controversial arms deal, worth over $100 billion, despite bipartisan concerns about civilian casualties resulting from Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Yemen.
The report produced by House Democrats also highlighted comments made by Trump during a 2015 campaign rally regarding his view of Saudi Arabia.
“Saudi Arabia, I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million.” He continued, “Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much!” Trump said at the time.
Committee Democrats have previously released some of the accounting records, but those documents only accounted for a fraction of the foreign payments to Trump-owned businesses during the years he occupied the White House.
Foreign spending at Trump World Tower
A sizable percentage of foreign spending disclosed in the latest report comes from leases or common charge payments countries made for apartments their diplomatic missions rent or own at Trump World Tower, an apartment building across the street from the United Nations.
Many of the countries bought properties years before Trump ran for office, but they continued to make payments to the Trump Organization during the presidency.
Saudi Arabia, India, Qatar, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and a Chinese-government linked petroleum company each owned or rented apartments at Trump World Tower and combined paid the Trump Organization an estimated $1.7 million in charges and fees, according to House Democrats.
The figure is based on records the Democrats received from Mazars for the year 2018 – the only year Mazars gave to the committee – and then an extrapolation based on the assumptions the charges remain the same during the course of Trump’s presidency.
The biggest payment to the UN property came from Saudi Arabia, which owns the 45th floor of the apartment tower. Democrats estimate the Saudi government paid $537,080 during Trump’s presidency – out of a total $615,422 in emoluments. The remainder came from payments to Trump’s hotel in Washington DC.
Qatar paid an estimated $465,744 for the properties it owned during Trump’s presidency; India paid at least $264,184; Afghanistan spent an estimated $153,208 for its unit; and Kuwait paid Trump’s company $152,664 for the Trump World Tower.
Kuwait also spent roughly $150,000 to the Washington hotel for National Day events held by its embassy in 2017 and 2018, according to Mazars records.
The national day event was also held at the hotel in 2019, but the Democrats said they did not receive records from Mazars related to the cost. The events were attended by Trump administration officials, the Democrats said citing press releases from the Kuwaiti embassy.
This story has been updated with additional details.
Related:
BBC News
Trump companies got millions from foreign governments, Democrats say
Natalie Sherman – BBC News – January 4, 2024
Trump International Hotel opened in 2016 in Washington
Donald Trump‘s hotels and other businesses accepted more than $7.8m (£6.1m) from foreign governments during his presidency, according to a new report from Democrats in Congress.
They found that China was responsible for more than $5.5m of those payments, which Mr Trump is accused of accepting in violation of the US constitution.
The report is based on documents released by Mr Trump’s former accounting firm after a court battle.
Mr Trump did not immediately comment.
The US constitution bars presidents from accepting gifts or other benefits derived from their position without express permission from Congress.
The former businessman, who made his name as a hotel and property developer, has been dogged by questions about his firms’ dealings since he entered the White House in January 2017.
At the time, he placed his sons in charge of the companies’ day-to-day operations but maintained ownership of the businesses, which included the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which became a known haunt for lobbyists, foreign delegations and others.
Mr Trump, who is currently campaigning for a second term, faced numerous lawsuits alleging conflicts-of-interest.
In 2021, America’s highest court threw out the cases, saying they were moot after he lost the 2020 election.
Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the investigation showed Mr Trump “put lining his pockets with cash from foreign governments seeking policy favors over the interests of the American people”.
“The report’s detailed findings make clear that we don’t have the laws in place to deal with a president who is willing to brazenly convert the presidency into a business for self-enrichment and wealth maximization with the collusive participation of foreign state,” he wrote in the introduction to the report.
Democrats said their investigation showed that Mr Trump’s loyalties were split by the payments, which came from at least 20 governments many of which had sensitive or politically charged matters before the US.
They cite as an example that Mr Trump supported arms sales to Saudi Arabia that were opposed by Congress due to fears the weapons would be used against civilians.
The report also notes he cast doubt on US intelligence assessments that the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
After China, Saudi Arabia and its royal family was the second biggest patron of the Trump businesses, spending more than $600,000 at his properties, according to the report.
Qatar, Kuwait and India rounded out the top five list.
Democrats said that the findings reflect just the first two years of his presidency and only four of his properties, claiming it likely represented just a fraction of the money Mr Trump’s businesses made from foreign governments during his time as president.
In 2022, Democrats lost control of Congress and could no longer compel release of documents, cutting short the investigation.
Republican James Comer, who is leading an inquiry into the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, during his father’s vice presidency, dismissed the findings.
“It is beyond parody that Democrats continue their obsession with former President Trump,” he said in a statement. “Former President Trump has legitimate businesses but the Bidens do not.”
Mr Trump’s tax records, released in 2022, revealed significant business losses during his presidency and he has scaled back his business.
The Trump Organization sold the Washington hotel to an investment group for $375m in 2022.
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CBS News
Trump businesses got millions in foreign payments while he was president, Dems say
Kathryn Watson, Stefan Becket – January 4, 2024
Washington — Donald Trump‘s businesses received at least $7.8 million in payments from foreign governments and government-backed entities from 20 countries while he was in the White House, according to a new report by House Democrats.
Drawing upon 451 pages of documents received from Trump’s longtime accounting firm Mazars and a federal agency, Democratic staffers on the House Oversight Committee on Thursday issued their 156-page report entitled “White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump.”
The records, the report said, “demonstrate that four Trump-owned properties together collected, at the least, millions of dollars in payments from foreign governments and officials.” The Democrats alleged these payments violated what’s known as the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts or other benefits from foreign countries without congressional approval.
“This report sets forth the records showing foreign government money — and all the spoils from royals we can find — pouring into hotels and buildings that the President continued to own during his presidency, all in direct violation of the Constitutional prohibition,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee.
The Democrats noted that they had access to a limited number of financial documents and that “the foreign payments to President Trump identified in this report are likely only a small fraction of the total amount of such payments he received during his presidency.”
Where the payments came from
The Democratic report focuses on payments to four Trump-controlled businesses: the Trump hotels in Washington, Las Vegas and New York, and Trump Tower in Manhattan.
While Trump turned over day-to-day operations of his businesses to his sons when he entered the White House in 2017, he declined to divest his assets and retained “personal ownership and control of all his businesses, as well as the ability to draw funds from them without any outside disclosure,” the report alleged. This arrangement, Democrats said, “reinforced (rather than severed) his ties to his businesses and enabled him to prioritize his personal interests over those of the nation.”
During his presidency, the Trump International Hotel in Washington attracted many foreign diplomats and dignitaries hoping to mingle with Trump allies and administration officials. According to Trump’s financial disclosure reports from when he was president, he earned more than $40 million from the D.C. hotel in 2017, and $40.8 million the following year.
A view of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 18, 2021. / Credit: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Despite Trump’s frequent criticism of China and insistence that the country was taking advantage of the U.S., the majority of foreign payments included in Thursday’s report came from the Chinese government and two state-owned entities.
The payments totaled nearly $5.6 million at properties including Trump Tower, and the Trump International Hotels in Washington and Las Vegas, the report found. The bulk of the payments came from the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which paid $5.35 million in rent for space in Trump Tower from February 2017 to October 2019.
The nation that spent the second-most at the Trump properties, according to the report, was Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government spent more than $615,000 at Trump World Tower in New York and the Trump hotel in Washington from 2017 to 2020.
The report noted that Trump praised Saudi Arabia and mentioned “his transactional relationships” with the kingdom before taking office. During an August 21, 2015, rally in Alabama, Trump said Saudi nationals had spent millions of dollars on his apartments.
“Saudi Arabia, I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million,” he said. “Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much!”
The report said that Trump “oversaw several highly consequential decisions on a range of issues involving U.S. policy towards Saudi Arabia” while his businesses were receiving payments from the Saudi government. The Democrats noted Trump’s response to the 2018 death of Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamaal Khashoggi, in which he publicly doubted the conclusion of the intelligence community that the Saudi crown prince had ordered his killing.
Qatar follows Saudi Arabia’s spending, with $465,744 spent at Trump World Tower. Nearly all of the remaining payments, from countries including Kuwait, India, Malaysia, Afghanistan, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates, occurred at the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
The fight over emoluments
Trump’s business dealings as president were the subject of three major court cases while he was in office, the first of which was filed in 2017. The cases, brought by Democratic lawmakers, several states and an oversight group, were the first legal battles over the Emoluments Clause, but failed to resolve questions about the definition of an “emolument” or the scope of constitutional provision. The Supreme Court dismissed two of them once Trump left office and declined to review the third.
The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the new report. Trump dismissed the “phony Emoluments Clause” and concerns about his business dealings in 2019.
The Trump Organization has said it voluntarily donated proceeds from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury every year from 2018 to 2021. In 2017, the Trump Organization said it would rely on foreign representatives to self-report if they were paying a Trump company for something in their official capacity.
The company said it donated $191,538 in foreign payments in 2019, $105,465 in 2020 and $10,577 in 2021.
‘Concerning escalation’: Russia used North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukraine
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY – January 4, 2024
The White House said Thursday it had evidence that Russia has used North Korean ballistic missiles in its war against Ukraine − and believes the former Soviet country intends to purchase missile systems from Iran.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby noted that as Russia has become increasingly isolated on the world stage resulting from U.S. sanctions and export restrictions, they’ve looked to “like-minded states” for military equipment.
“Our information indicates that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea recently provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles,” said Kirby.
On Dec. 30, Russian forces launched at least one of these North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine, Kirby said. The missile appears to have landed in an open field. On Jan. 2, Russia launched multiple North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine, including as part of its overnight aerial attack.
Survivors of a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, gather belongings amid the debris of their destroyed home on Jan. 3, 2024.
“We expect Russia and North Korea to learn from these launches, and we anticipate that Russia will use additional North Korean missiles to target Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and to kill innocent Ukrainian civilians,” he said.
According to the NSC spokesperson, these North Korean ballistic missiles are capable of ranges of approximately 550 miles.
Kirby called the development a “significant and concerning escalation” of North Korea’s support for Russia.
In return for its support, White House believes North Korea is seeking military assistance from Russia, including fighter aircraft, surface to air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or materials, and other advanced technologies, said Kirby.
“This would’ve concerning security implications for the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
Kirby said the United States is concerned that Russian negotiations to acquire close range ballistic missiles from Iran are actively advancing.
In mid-December, the Iran Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Force deployed multiple ballistic missile and missile support systems to a training area inside Iran for display to a visiting Russian delegation, said Kirby.
In response to Russia’s activities with Iran and North Korea, the U.S. is taking a range of steps with its allies and partners.
“First, Russia’s procurement of ballistic missiles from the DPRK directly violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions. We will raise these arms deals at the UN Security Council alongside our allies and partners, and we will demand that Russia be held accountable for yet again violating its international obligation,” said Kirby.
“Second, we will impose additional sanctions against those working to facilitate arms transfers between Russia and the DPRK and between Russia and Iran. Third, we’ll continue to release information to the public and expose these arms deals as we are doing today, because we will not allow countries to aid Russia’s war machine in seeker,” he continued.
The most effective response to Russia’s horrific violence against the Ukrainian people is to continue to provide Ukraine with vital air defense capabilities and other types of military equipment, said Kirby, as he appealed the Congress to take action.
“To do that, we need Congress to approve our supplemental funding request for Ukraine without delay,” he said.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY.
Russia has used North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine and is seeking Iranian missiles, US says
Colleen Long and Aamer Madhani – January 4, 2024
Municipal workers clear the rubble in front of a residential building damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)A new year tree is seen inside a residential house damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)A damaged car is parked in the yard of a residential building damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish supplies for its war with Ukraine, the White House said Thursday.
Recently declassified intelligence found that North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. Russian forces fired at least one of those ballistic missiles into Ukraine on Dec. 30 and it landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region, he said.
Russia launched multiple North Korean ballistic missiles on Tuesday as part of an overnight attack, and the U.S. was assessing the impact, he said. The missiles have a range of about 550 miles (885 kilometers).
U.S. intelligence officials believe that North Korea, in return for its arms support, wants Russia to provide it with aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment and other advanced technologies.
Kirby said that a Russia-Iran deal had not been completed but that the U.S. “is concerned that Russia’s negotiations to acquire close range ballistic missiles from Iran are actively advancing.”
The U.S. intelligence finding supports South Korea’s assessment that North Korea has increased its cooperation with Moscow. South Korea’s military said in November that it suspected North Korea had sent an unspecified number of short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles and portable anti-air missiles to Russia, in addition to rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and shells.
The Biden administration has repeatedly sought to make the case that the Kremlin has become reliant on North Korea, as well as Iran, for the arms it needs to fight its war against Ukraine and has disclosed intelligence findings that it says show as much.
North Korea and Iran are largely isolated on the international stage for their nuclear programs and human rights records.
The White House in October said that North Korea delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia.
Relations between Russia and North Korea go back to the 1948 foundation of North Korea. Soviet officials installed a young and ambitious nationalist, Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, as the country’s first ruler. Soviet aid shipments were crucial in keeping North Korea’s economy afloat for decades before the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
The White House has said Russia has received hundreds of one-way attack drones, as well as drone production-related equipment, from Iran. The Democratic administration also has accused Tehran of providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow.
Kirby said the U.S. would raise its concerns about the arms arrangement findings at the U.N. Security Council and would look to impose additional sanctions against North Korean and Iranian individuals and entities facilitating weapons transfers with Russia..
AP White House correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
The Institute for The Study of War argued that Putin may also seek the clash with Nato countries “to set conditions for permanent Russian military build-up”.
The Washington-based think tank believes that the Russian president has no intention to “negotiate in good faith with Ukraine” to end the conflict and is instead planning to try to persuade the “West to betray Ukraine through negotiations”.
It highlighted the Ministry of Defence in London estimating just days ago that the average daily number of Russian casualties in Ukraine rose by almost 300 during the course of 2023 and that “if the numbers continue at the current rate over the next year, Russia will have lost over half a million personnel in Ukraine”.
The vast majority of these casualties are injuries.
Out of an estimated 350,000 Russian casualties so far, the MoD believes around 70,000 are fatalities.
In its latest analysis on the war, the ISW said: “Putin may be expanding his war aims in Ukraine to include confrontation with the West in an effort to set conditions for permanent Russian military build-up and to justify high battlefield sacrifices.
“Russia gained almost no meaningful ground in 2023 at a high manpower cost.”
The briefing continued: “Putin’s framing of his war in Ukraine as a Russian struggle against the West – and not Ukraine – indicates that he does not intend to negotiate in good faith with Ukraine and is setting information conditions aimed at convincing the West to betray Ukraine through negotiations.
“Putin is likely deliberately and falsely framing Ukraine as pawn without agency in the Russia-West conflict to mask his expansionist and maximalist goals of establishing full effective Russian control of Ukraine.”
Britain has led the West in arming Ukraine and giving Kyiv diplomatic and political support.
Rishi Sunak told Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that the UK will continue to “stand steadfastly by” Ukraine throughout 2024.
The Prime Minister also discussed providing “further deliveries of lethal aid” to Kyiv with the Ukrainian president as they spoke in a phone call.
Cars on fire after a Russian attack in Kyiv on Tuesday (AP)
In a readout of the call between the leaders, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky today.
“He offered his condolences to all those Ukrainians killed and injured in barbaric Russian airstrikes over the Christmas period.”
The Downing Street spokeswoman continued: “The Prime Minister said the UK would continue to stand steadfastly by Ukraine as they fight aggression and occupation, throughout 2024 and into the future.
“The leaders discussed recent developments in the conflict, including progress in the Black Sea and the success of the Ukrainian air defence, bolstered by UK-supplied ground-to-air missiles.
“The Prime Minister set out ongoing UK work to provide military and diplomatic support to Ukraine, including through further deliveries of lethal aid, support for President Zelensky’s peace plan and a long-term security framework.”
The UK has committed £4.6 billion of military spending towards Ukraine’s defence against the Russian invasion since 2022, with £2.3 billion provided in 2022, and matched in 2023.
Ministers have come under pressure in recent months to reveal when they will provide further military funding for 2024.
In the latest military action, Russia’s air defence systems destroyed a total of 12 Ukraine-launched launched missiles over the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday.
Russian officials earlier said one man had been killed and 11 people injured in the latest series of attacks on the city of Belgorod, over the border from Ukraine.
Putin on Monday described the attacks on Belgorod as a “terrorist act.”
He accused Western nations of using Ukraine to try to “put Russia in its place.”
But the Russian president’s military has unleashed the biggest air strikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv and other parts of Ukraine so far during his war started in February 2022.
Ukraine’s two largest cities came under attack early Tuesday from Russian missiles that killed five people and injured as many as 130, officials said, as the war approached its two-year mark and the Kremlin stepped up its winter bombardment of urban areas.
Air defences shot down all 10 of the Russian Kinzhal missiles, which can fly at 10 times the speed of sound, out of about 100 of various types that were launched, said General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief.
But other missiles got through in Kyiv and in Kharkiv, the provincial capital of the northeastern region. In Kyiv and its surrounding region, four people were killed and about 70 were wounded, while in the Kharkiv region, one person was killed and about 60 were hurt, the Interior Ministry said.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is an air-launched ballistic missile that is rarely used by Russian forces due to its cost and limited stocks. The barrage fired Tuesday was the highest number used in one attack since the start of the war, Ukraine air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said.
The latest round of attacks by Russia began Friday with its largest single assault on Ukraine of the war, as fighting along the 620-mile front line has subsided into grinding attrition amid winter. At least 41 civilians were killed since the weekend.
In other developments, Russia’s Defence Ministry said one of its warplanes accidentally released munitions over the southwestern Russian village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region Tuesday, damaging six houses but causing no injuries. It said an investigation will determine the cause of the accident but didn’t say what type of weapon the warplane dropped.
In April, munitions accidentally released by a Russian warplane caused a powerful blast in Belgorod, damaging several cars and slightly injuring two people.
