Czechoslovakia spied on Donald and Ivana Trump, communist-era files show
1977 report said Trump was completely tax-exempt for the next 30 years and Trump was convinced in 1988 he could win presidency, informant wrote
The secret service of communist-era Czechoslovakia spied extensively on Donald Trump, it has emerged, with one informant alleging in 1977 that the future US president-elect is completely tax-exempt for the next 30 years.
The Sttn bezpenost or StB the then communist states intelligence agency which dealt with any activity considered dangerous to the state or of western influence spied on Trump and his Czechoslovak-born wife, Ivana, in the 1970s and 80s when she made regular trips back to visit her father, Milo Zelnek.
Stamped top secret and bearing the code names Slusovice, America and Capital, the files detail the obsession Czech spies had in gathering as much information about the US property tycoon as possible.
Uncovered by Czech television and the German tabloid Bild, the dossiers include one that concentrates solely on the pre-nuptial agreement made between the Trumps. In the case of a marriage breakdown, he agreed to pay her $1m, according to the StB file.
An informant with the cover name Lubos reported to his superiors in 1977 how Ivana had begun work at a petrol station in Austria, where she had met her first husband in 1968. She had then emigrated to Canada, where she married Trump.
Another spy reported in 1977 that Trumps businesses were absolutely safe because they received commissions from the state. The informant added: Another advantage is the personal relationship [he has] with the American president [presumably Jimmy Carter] and the fact that he is completely tax-exempt for the next 30 years.
During this years election campaign, the New York Times obtained tax records that the paper said showed Trump could have used a $916m loss reported on his 1995 tax return to avoid paying income tax for up to 18 years. Asked about the story during one of the presidential debates, Trump acknowledged that this was accurate.
In 1988 a further informant working under the cover name Milos reported that Trump was being put under considerable pressure to run for the US presidency. The Czech authorities should be made aware, he said, that Ivana was under pressure herself to not put a step wrong during visits to Czechoslovakia, or else she risked putting her husbands potential candidacy in jeopardy.
Any false step of hers will have incalculable consequences for the position of her husband who intends to run for president in 1996, Milos wrote. He added that Trump was convinced he could win the presidency.
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An earlier report on the 1988 US election campaign noted that Trump had donated two payments of $10,000 each to the Democrats and the Republicans. Ivana Trump had been convinced that George HW Bush would win and had been proved right, the report added.
The StB went so far as to send a spy to the US to monitor Trump, believing that if he was to succeed in becoming US president it could have a significant impact on Czechoslovak-US relations. A note by an StB spy named Al Jarda of 10 October 1989 details a visit made to Trump by a delegation from a communist agricultural production cooperative from Slusovice, the village where Ivana Trumps father lived.
They were given a welcome by one of the richest men in New York, Mister Donald Trump. He got them to explain to him extensively about the work of the cooperative and its further plans in the field of trade, Al Jarda wrote. At the end of the visit Trump was invited to visit Slusovice. It is not believed that he ever took them up on the offer.
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Details of how the Trumps were to be spied on are also held in the StBs archives. One order dated 1979 states that the phone calls between Ivana and her father are to be tapped at least once a year and their mail is to be constantly monitored. It is noted that Ivana speaks to her children in Czech even when she is in the US as well as detailing the friends and acquaintances of the Czech branch of her family.
A Czech historian said the fact that Ivanas father was registered as an StB confidant did not mean he worked as an agent for them. Rather the CSSR authorities forced him to talk to them because of his journeys to the US to see his daughter. If he hadnt spoken to them he would not have been given permission to fly, Tom Vilmek told Bild.
Donald and Ivana Trump were married in 1977 and divorced in 1992. They have three children.
The StB was dissolved following the collapse of communism in 1990.
The Trump transition team has been contacted for comment.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/15/czechoslovakia-spied-on-donald-trump-ivana-files