A Ukrainian steel magnate, Victor Pinchuk, paid $150,000 to Donald Trump’s charity to book the then-presidential candidate to speak via satellite at a conference held in Kiev in the early days of the presidential campaign.

“Victor is a very, very special man. A special entrepreneur,” Trump told the gathering.

In September 2015, when Pinchuk paid the money to Trump’s charitable foundation, the Ukrainian billionaire was also one of the largest donors to the Clinton Foundation. The payment to the Trump Foundation went undisclosed until this week, when it surfaced on newly-filed tax records for Donald Trump’s charitable foundation, raising alarms from some of the Clintons' most vocal critics.

“I think it is troubling,” said Peter Schweizer, author of the book Clinton Cash, which documented the blending of the Clinton’s charitable and political interests. “He’s somebody that donated to the Clinton Foundation, and this is a problem…I think there's no other way to read it other than they are hoping to get some favor in return.”

Pinchuk’s donation, first reported by The Washington Post, was to the Trumps’ family-run charity, far smaller and more intimate than the vast Clinton Foundation. In total, the Trump non-profit took in $780,000 in contributions last year.



More: Trump Foundation Admits It Gave Money to 'Disqualified Person'



The Victor Pinchuk Foundation offices told ABC News on Wednesday the contribution was made to bolster its efforts to persuade Western governments to help protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the face of Russian incursions.

“The sole reason the Victor Pinchuk Foundation has reached out to President-elect Trump -- as well as other world leaders -- has been to promote strengthened and enduring ties between Ukraine and the West,” a spokeswoman for the Pinchuk foundation said in an emailed response to questions.

“Mr Pinchuk had met Mr Trump some years ago in New York, this is how the invitation for Mr Trump to speak at the YES meeting came about,” the spokeswoman said.







Ultimately, Trump delivered a speech that attacked President Obama for not doing enough to support Ukraine.

“Part of the problem we have with the Ukraine is that Putin does not respect our president whatsoever,” Trump told the gathering. “Putin does not respect our president.”

In an appearance on ABC News' This Week program in July, Trump told George Stephanopoulos that -- in his view -- the people of Russia-annexed Crimea appear to want to remain under Russia's control, and that a President Trump would "look at" whether the U.S. would recognize Russian control of the territory.

But, Trump also said that if he were elected president, he would make sure that Russia would make no further incursions into Ukraine.

"He's not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand," Trump said. "You can mark it down. You can put it down."

Asked further about Russia's current presence in Ukraine, of which Crimea is part, Trump then acknowledged Russia was already in Ukraine "in a certain way."

Pinchuk, a Ukrainian business man who is reportedly worth some $1.44 billion, made his fortune in the pipe-making industry. His father in law father-in-law was president of Ukraine from 1994 to 2005.

Pinchuk donated between $10 million and $25 million to the Clinton Foundation over the years, and the New York Times reported that he lent his private plane to the Clintons. His name also appears in State Department emails made public by the group Citizens United as being invited to a small private dinner with then-Secretary Clinton.

It was a set of facts that fueled money-for-access allegations that Trump leveled against Clinton on the campaign trail.

“They should give the money back,” Trump said of the Clintons at one point. "Countries that influenced her totally and also countries that discriminated against women and gays and everybody else. I mean, that money should be given back. They should not take that money.”

Schweizer, who is informally advising the Trump transition team on reforms to clean up Washington, told ABC News he thinks Trump should give back the Pinchuk money.

“I think one of the reforms that needs to take place is that the Trump Foundation should not take any donations from businessmen from the United States or internationally,” he said. “It's just simply a gateway to trying to curry favor with the president-elect.”

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