When Trump’s Rancho Palos Verdes homes were not selling, Trump business partner Phil Ruffin stepped in to buy one in 2006. According to varied public real estate search sites, octogenarian Mr. Ruffin appears to hold two houses on Twin Harbors View Drive (one in his name, one via his company ‘Winner Plus Global‘, despite some news reports that he’s sold one house.
What do we know of Palos Verdes homeowner Mr. Ruffin? The relatively press-shy mogul partnered with Trump to build the Trump International Hotel (Vegas, 2002) and then the Vegas Trump-Ruffin Tower (2005).
(As with all casinos, there is naturally no link with organized crime or money laundering.)
Like Trump, he’s interested in the ‘Eastern Europe Beauty Pageant circuit’.
During their business dealings, Ruffin and Trump developed a friendship. Ruffin, now 82, and Trump, 70, were single together. “He would approve my girlfriends at the time,” Ruffin said. Their wives — Eastern European immigrants decades younger than themselves — are close, trading parenting tips by text message, Ruffin said. They’ve been on double dates, including one in Florida to see the movie “Lincoln,” Ruffin said.
Mr. Ruffin is known in the press as ‘Trump’s Best Friend’ and is someone that Mr. Trump is genuinely physically affectionate with – more than Melania or his own children. When Ruffin married a Ukrainian model 45 years his junior, (Oleksandra Nikolayenko), Mr. Trump was his best man and is said to have paid for the wedding, which was held at Mar-A-Lago. (Ruffin is also alleged to have been introduced to Ms. Nikolayenko by Ukranian Oligarch Oleksandr Onyshchenko.) Celine Dion and Justin Timberlake attended (they’re such thoughtful friends!) and Lionel Ritchie sang.
In 2013, in an account that was discussed closely during the Mueller investigation, Ruffin and his wife flew Trump on their plane to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow – a visit where he claimed he did not spend the night.
Waiting for your business to start in Russia, Mr. Trump @realDonaldTrump! @eminofficial #Russia #Moscow pic.twitter.com/NbSiKw7g93
— Alferova Yulya (@AlferovaYulyaE) November 11, 2013
Trump and the Ruffins were feted on the trip by Azerbaijani-Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov among others. Algarov later requested Trump’s organization meet with a Kremlin-connected lawyer in what would become the infamous 2016 ‘Trump Tower’ meeting.
Ruffin facilitated another Trump covert meeting: in August 2016, candidate Trump flew to Mexico to meet with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. Trump did so on one of Ruffin’s jets due to concerns over ‘security’. Ruffin withheld this information from insurance.
Ruffin has been a consistent donor to the Republican party. He gave fifty thousand to the Romney campaign in 2012.
Immediately after Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, Ruffin was all-in. After the ‘Make America Great’ Political Action Committee was registered, Ruffin made a one million contribution on July 16 2015, just two weeks after it was formed. This donation made up the majority of its $1.74 million operation before it was shut down after attracting press scrutiny.
Ruffin also worked to facilitate Trump’s rallies, making appearances in Las Vegas and Des Moines.
— Ruffin joined Trump at the Libertarian ‘Freedom Fest’ (held at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood) on July 11 2015. (They’re both big Hayek fans?) During this event Trump famously took a question from now-convicted Russian spy Maria Butina.
— Phil Ruffin and Oleksandra Ruffin also joined Trump on stage at a January 2016 rally in Des Moines, Iowa. The candidate had boycotted a Fox News hosted debate and claimed Ruffin was giving $1 million to Veterans’ groups. This rally came back to haunt Mr. Trump due to financial impropriety with his non-profit foundation.
At the Des Moines rally (and as the campaign continued), Trump floated the idea of Ruffin as his ambassador to China.
(Because he knows Chinese so well? Don’t laugh – Trump wanted to appoint a pretty blonde from Fox News as Ambassador to the UN, his daughter to run the World Bank.)
Following Trump clinching the Republican nomination, Ruffin spoke on his behalf at the convention. It was a rare moment in the spotlight for him.
In a story broken by the New York Times in 2016 (part of their analysis of his taxes), Trump’s ongoing debts had a sudden savior in $21 million of highly questionable payments through his business dealings in Las Vegas with Ruffin.
After Trump won the White House in November 2016, Ruffin was among the faithful celebrating the win in New York. Ruffin served on the finance committee for Trump’s January 20 2017 inauguration, and donated one million for the event, public records show. “Ruffin told The Associated Press he spent $18,000 for a suite at the Trump International Hotel to be there for the president’s swearing-in ceremony and festivities.” (Las Vegas Review Journal)
“They wanted a million dollars for these eight tickets,” Ruffin explained. “For half a million you can get four tickets but I needed eight. So I had to send a million dollars.”
Following Trump taking office, Ruffin estimated he called the President fortnightly. Ruffin spent one night in the White House in 2017. He and his wife joined Trump to meet the Australian Prime Minister. Ruffin has continued in his role as a high-rolling Republican donor, assisting in setting up the “Patriot Legal Expenses Fund Trust” for the legal defense of Trump’s proxies under investigation for Russian collusion.
Ruffin’s wife Oleksandra has bragged of her close relationship with the President, via his wife Melania.
According to one source close to the Ukrainian presidential administration, Nikolayenko told Chaly that she could put him in touch with “anyone in the administration” and that she had already started setting up meetings for him. Chaly told FP that he had met Nikolayenko at an “informal event with the new American leadership” and that she was later invited to the Ukrainian Embassy but denied that she had helped establish any new contacts.
Oleksandra Ruffin was seen with Melania Trump at a Fox Town Hall on opioids. Ms. Ruffin has not been without scandal herself; her “Oleksandra Spa” was sued for age discrimination by its workers, alleging that there was bias towards “young beautiful girls” — quite similar to complaints raised by Trump National Staff.
Trump scandals have followed Ruffin, too. After February 2019’s questioning of Michael Cohen, Ruffin admitted he’d made payments that facilitated the $25 million Trump University settlement. And Ruffin was also a donor to the extremely troubled Donald J. Trump Foundation.
But overall business is good for Ruffin; he bought Circus Circus from MGM in late 2019. At the same time, he and Oleksandra Ruffin joined Mr. Trump for a state dinner for the Prime Minister of Australia.
The press-shy Ruffin emerged most recently in the press when the New York Times published an analysis of Mr. Trump’s taxes, including sketchy 2016 dealings in Las Vegas.
Phil Ruffin on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ruffin
Oleksandra Nikolayenko on Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleksandra_Nikolayenko
Philip Ruffin on C-Span
https://www.c-span.org/person/?phillipruffin
Forbes on Phil Ruffin
https://www.forbes.com/profile/phil-ruffin/#2983f8057ec4
Trump Ruffin Tower LLC
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_de/3952553
Twin Harbors Houses
https://clustrmaps.com/a/1fj38m/
www.city-data.com/los-angeles-county/T/Twin-Harbors-View-Drive-1.html
https://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/phil-ruffins-house-1/view/google/
Miss Ukraine
https://www.revolvy.com/page/Miss-Ukraine
‘Make America Great Again’ FEC Records
https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/810/201602039008436810/201602039008436810.pdf
Phil Ruffin Articles
The Anti-Wynn
June 04 2009 Steve Freiss Las Vegas Weekly
https://lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/2009/jun/04/anti-wynn/
The Big O
March 11 2010 Las Vegas Review Journal
https://www.reviewjournal.com/life/fashion/the-big-o/
Phillip G. Ruffin lists Rancho Palos Verdes home
June 23, 2011 Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/la-xpm-2011-jun-23-la-hm-hotprop-phil-ruffin-20110623-story.html
Donald Trump’s Best Friend Lists $10 Million Estate
November 2011 Housing Predictor
https://www.housingpredictor.com/trumps-best-friend/
Six women lose age discrimination suit against Treasure Island
January 24 2012 Steve Green Las Vegas Sun
https://vegasinc.lasvegassun.com/business/legal/2012/jan/24/six-women-lose-age-discrimination-suit-against-tre/
Las Vegas Becomes a Money Machine for Republican Party
Aug 7, 2012 Laurie Bennett Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriebennett/2012/08/07/las-vegas-becomes-a-money-machine-for-republican-party/#3fb4f5b777db
Miss Universe Fever
November 04 2013
http://missosology.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=209105&start=12450#p4083782
Treasure Island Age Discrimination Lawsuit
April 27 2015 Andrew Gibbins
https://prezi.com/hxhjedqsdehf/treasure-island-age-discrimination-lawsuit/
Campaigning in Las Vegas, Trump doubles down on immigration stance
July 11, 2015 Conor Shine Las Vegas Sun
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/jul/11/campaigning-las-vegas-trump-doubles-down-immigrati/
Donald Trump just gave an amazingly surreal speech in Las Vegas
July 12 2015 Maxwell Tari Business Insider
https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-just-gave-surreal-speech-in-las-vegas-2015-7
How Trump Invented Trump
September 3, 2015 Max Ableson Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/graphics/2015-how-trump-invented-trump/
Phil Ruffin on Donald Trump and hotel, casino industries
Oct 13, 2015 Fox Business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOKj22ZjlzA
The inside story of Trump campaign’s connections to a big-money super PAC
October 18, 2015 Matea Gold The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-inside-story-of-donald-trumps-connections-to-a-big-money-super-pac/2015/10/18/532b61d4-72b5-11e5-8248-98e0f5a2e830_story.html
Pro-Trump super PAC shutting down amid questions about ties to Trump campaign
22 November 2015 Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/22/pro-trump-super-pac-shutting-down-amid-questions-about-ties-to-trump-campaign/
Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Rally in Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 28, 2016 C-Span
https://www.c-span.org/video/?403832-1/presidential-candidate-donald-trump-rally-des-moines-iowa
Fact-checking Donald Trump at his rally
January 28, 2016 Anita Kumar McClatchy
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article57199813.html
TI owner Ruffin talks Trump, the NFL and paying to park in Las Vegas
February 2, 2016 Norm Clarke Las Vegas Review Journal
https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/ti-owner-ruffin-talks-trump-the-nfl-and-paying-to-park-in-las-vegas/
Why Phil Ruffin thinks Trump would be ‘brilliant’ president
February 3, 2016 J.D. Morris Las Vegas Sun
https://vegasinc.lasvegassun.com/business/gaming/2016/feb/03/interview-with-phil-ruffin-why-he-thinks-trump-wou/
Workers fight for dignity in Trump’s Las Vegas hotel: ‘You don’t talk to the boss’
2 May 2016 Oliver Laughland and Mae Ryan The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/02/donald-trump-workers-hotel-international-las-vegas
Watch businessman Phil Ruffin’s full speech the 2016 Republican National Convention
July 20, 2016 PBS Newshour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYucEp_Rugc
Meet the Casino Owner Speaking at the Republican Convention
July 21, 2016 Will Drabold Time
https://time.com/4415131/republican-convention-phil-ruffin/
LISTEN: The Making Of Clinton And Trump
September 1, 2016 Rachael Martin NPR
https://www.npr.org/2016/09/01/492013444/the-making-of-clinton-and-trump
Wichitan Phil Ruffin knew his friend Trump would be president
November 10 2016 Roy Wenzl Wichita Eagle
https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article114023158.html
The Road to Power in Ukraine Runs Through Donald Trump
February 24 2017 Isaac Webb, Reid Standish Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/24/the-road-to-power-in-ukraine-runs-through-donald-trump/
Why The Next Big Trump Project Could Be A Las Vegas Casino
March 28 2017 Dan Alexander Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2017/03/20/conflict-conflicts-of-interest-emoluments-clause-trump-ruffin-phil-russia-treasury-profits-hotel-las-vegas-casino/#3b4cba5179b1
From N.F.L. Owners to Florida Retirees, a Who’s Who of Inaugural Donors
April 20, 2017 Nicholas Fandos The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/us/politics/trump-inauguration-donors.html
The People Shaping Trump’s Inauguration
Jan. 19, 2017 Rick Claypool Public Citizen
https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/trump-inauguration-committee-report.pdf
Casino mogul Ruffin spends night at White House
March 30, 2017 Debra J. Saunders Review Journal
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/casino-mogul-ruffin-spends-night-at-white-house/
Billionaires, companies power Trump’s record inaugural haul
April 19, 2017 Nancy Benac and Julie Bykowicz AP News
https://apnews.com/66c6b146661140dc8f56aea18de67d85
Trump condos worth $250 million pose potential conflict
April 20, 2017 Nick Penzenstadler, Steve Reilly, and John Kelly USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/04/20/trump-owns-250m-condos-and-you-could-buy-one/100566302/
Wichita native Phil Ruffin gave $1M for Trump inauguration
April 20 2017 Daniel McCoy Wichita Business Journal
https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2017/04/20/wichita-native-phil-ruffin-gave-1m-for-trump.html
How a Pageant Led to a Trump Son’s Meeting With a Russian Lawyer
July 10 2017 Megan Twohey The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/us/politics/rob-goldstone-russia-trump.html
A dozen new homes — and a brand new street — proposed at Trump National Golf Club
November 05 2017 Cynthia Washicko Daily Breeze
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2017/11/05/a-dozen-new-homes-and-a-brand-new-street-proposed-at-trump-national-golf-club/
Some find latest Trump development worrisome
Nov 8, 2017 Cynthia Washicko, Palos Verdes Peninsula News
https://www.pvnews.com/news/some-find-latest-trump-development-worrisome/article_04e55e84-c4d5-11e7-b8a0-37dfbc3c8a1f.html
Trump’s Charity Had 3 Big Donors Last Year. None Of Them Was Donald Trump
November 21 2017 Peter Overby NPR
https://www.npr.org/2017/11/21/565737004/trumps-charity-had-3-big-donors-last-year-none-of-them-was-donald-trump
Wynn Land Deal Shows Deep Connections Between Wynn, Trump, and Ruffin
January 16, 2018 Katie Barlowe Casino.org
https://www.casino.org/news/wynn-land-deal-shows-deep-connections-wynn-trump-ruffin/
Trump’s Miss Universe Gambit
February 19, 2018 Jeffrey Toobin The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/26/trumps-miss-universe-gambit
The pop star and the president: Donald Trump’s one night in Moscow
17 March 2018 New Zealand Herald
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm
Flight Records Shed New Light on President Trump’s Infamous 2013 Moscow Trip
April 23, 2018 Bloomberg
https://time.com/5251484/donald-trump-flight-records-moscow-trip/
The worst job in Washington right now: Working for Trump
May 17, 2017 Ashley Parker The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-worst-job-in-washington-right-now-working-for-trump/2017/05/17/a3d9ec00-3b17-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html
These Billionaires Have Stunning Trophy Wives, and These Photos Prove It
June 14 2018 Lauren Weiler Showbiz Cheat Sheet
https://www.cheatsheet.com/health-fitness/these-billionaires-have-stunning-trophy-wives-and-these-photos-prove-it.html/
Trump fundraiser nets nearly half a million for Heller-linked group
July 16 2018 Dean Heller The Nevada Independent
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/trump-fundraiser-nets-nearly-half-a-million-for-heller-linked-group
We Re-Watched The Iowa Fundraiser At Heart Of AG’s Trump Foundation Probe
October 31, 2018 Allegra Kirkland Talking Points Memo
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/rewatching-trump-iowa-fundraiser-heart-attorney-general-lawsuit
Freedom Fest Thread
December 11 2018 Wendy Siegelman
https://threader.app/thread/1072292497454493696
GOP Megadonors Give $500,000 to Legal Fund for Trump Aides Caught Up In Russia Probe
February 01 2019 Renae Reints Fortune
https://fortune.com/2019/02/01/adelson-donation-fund-russian-investigation-legal-fees/
Billionaire Phil Ruffin says he’s the Kansan mentioned at Michael Cohen hearing
February 27, 2019 Brian Lowry McClatchy
https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article226888739.html
First Lady Melania Trump Town Hall on Opioid Crisis
March 05 2019 C-Span
https://www.c-span.org/video/?458531-1/lady-melania-trump-speaks-town-hall-opioid-crisis
Man accused of shooting at an elementary school has family ties to billionaire Trump supporter
March 6 2019 Emily Rittman kctv5.com
https://www.kctv5.com/news/man-accused-of-shooting-at-an-elementary-school-has-family/article_e9bb5988-3fb7-11e9-be46-63fbf7ec3a7d.html
Gun-toting grandson of Trump business partner could go free after firing shots into a grade school while kids were outside
Mar 06, 2019 Brian Niemietz NY Daily News
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-news-grade-school-dylan-ruffin-phil-donald-trump-20190306-story.html
I tell Barron that drugs ‘will mess up your head, mess up your body and nothing positive comes of it’: Melania Trump reveals advice to son, 12, to ex-Fox News star Eric Bolling whose son died of an overdose
March 25 2019 Emily Gooding Daily Mail
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6774019/Wayne-Newton-join-Melania-Trumps-opioid-town-hall-Vegas-stage-Manilow-sings.html
Trump Leverages Incumbent Advantage Over Democratic 2020 Pack
April 16, 2019 Bill Allison & John McCormick Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-16/trump-leverages-incumbent-advantage-over-democratic-2020-pack
The Russian Sleazeball Peddling Girls to Billionaires
July 29 2019 The Daily Beast
https://www.thedailybeast.com/peter-listerman-the-sleazeball-peddling-russian-girls-to-billionaires
American, Australian luminaries gather at White House dinner
Sep 20, 2019, Associated Press
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/ZZ/news/20190920/american-australian-luminaries-gather-at-white-house-dinner?rssfeed=true
The haunting story behind the castle that inspired Disney
September 30, 2019 From Press
https://pressfrom.info/au/news/offbeat/-150852-the-haunting-story-behind-the-castle-that-inspired-disney.html
Phil Ruffin’s winning strategy for scoring his latest Vegas casino
October 16, 2019 Carrie Rengers Kansas.com
https://www.kansas.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/carrie-rengers/article236314953.html
Judge orders Trump to pay $2 million for charity foundation misuse after 2016 fundraiser in Des Moines
November 07 2019 Associated Press
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/11/07/judge-orders-trump-pay-million-charity-foundation-misuse-iowa-fundraiser/2520968001/
Episode 181: Phil Ruffin
July 30 2020 Grubstakers Podcast
https://www.podplay.com/en/podcast/129829/grubstakers/episode/39307621/episode-181-phil-ruffin
Trump’s Taxes Show He Engineered a Sudden Windfall in 2016
October 9, 2020 New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/10/09/us/donald-trump-taxes-las-vegas.html
Recent Comments