In their final head to head debate before the Presidential election on 3 November, Donald Trump and Joe Biden clashed over financial ties with Russia and China. Both candidates levelled allegations against the other.
Trump has made more than $200 million in income from his foreign business interests since 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The exact sums are difficult to calculate, but they are in hundreds of millions of dollars.
By contrast, on stage Biden insisted that “I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life”.
He tried to turn the tables on President Trump: “I have released all of my tax returns. 22 years. Go look at them. 22 years of my tax returns. You have not released a single solitary year of your tax returns. What are you hiding? Why are you unwilling?”
Trump, as part of a lengthy string of unverified allegations about Biden and his family’s financial interests, claimed that Biden received millions “through Russia.”
“Joe got $3.5 million through Russia, and it came through Putin because he was very friendly with the former mayor of Moscow,” Trump said.
“You made $3.5 million, Joe!” he said.
Trump appeared to be confusing Biden with the legitimate business activities of his son Hunter.
Trump’s campaign has been trying desperately to prove that some of Hunter’s money went to Joe but so far, they have not proven their case.
What we do know from the last elections is that the USA indicted Russian businessman Evgeny Prigozhin and his associates, who were accused of attempting to destabilise the US political system by using social media and allegedly using fake accounts to influence different racial groups.
But does anybody claim that the Kremlin is backing Donald Trump in this 2020 election?
Russian President Putin said recently that his core ideology is much closer to the basic values of the Democratic Party, which leaves little room for speculation about his own political preferences.
The alleged “election meddler” Evgeny Prigozhin pictured with former US President Bill Clinton and the former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev
As for the notorious Evgeny Prigozhin? Well, there is recent media coverage about his alleged activities in Libya, but nothing about meddling in the US elections this time round.
Is now the right time to ask whether Putin’s billionaire is attempting to assist Donald Trump? The media has not exposed any connections between Prigozhin and Trump’s election team.
But there are many different international connections to be found for Prigozhin, who over the years has met many world leaders and political celebrities.
