washington donald trump company pursue moscow real estate deal run u.s. president late 2015 early 2016 washington post report sunday post report cite people familiar proposal record view trump organization lawyers newspaper say investors trump company sign letter intent build trump tower moscow project lack land permit abandon end january 2016 u.s. presidential primaries begin accord several people familiar proposal white house initially refer reuters query white house special counsel ty cobb late trump organization neither respond immediately request comment washington post report come amid investigations independent special counsel congressional committees whether trump campaign aid collude moscow influence 2016 u.s. election trump russian government deny collusion july 2016 trump deny business connections russia say twitter record zero investments russia tell news conference next day nothing russia discussions moscow project begin earnest september 2015 washington post say cite people brief deal unidentified investor plan build project license agreement put trump name however unclear involve aware trump company negotiations newspaper report project drop russian-born real estate developer urge trump visit moscow promote proposal suggest could get russian president vladimir putin say great things trump accord report cite people brief correspondence trump elect november 2016 never go moscow newspaper say detail propose deal contain batch email turn congressional investigators shortly report say trump 's firm seek moscow real estate deal presidential run washington post