How did a beauty pageant become linked to the Trump campaign?

Five months before the 2016 election, three of President Trump’s top advisers — his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.; his campaign manager, Paul J. Manafort; and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law — agreed to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer who promised to provide them with damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

The meeting was first reported over the weekend by The New York Times, and on Sunday, the younger Mr. Trump said he agreed to it at the request of an acquaintance associated with the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant.

That acquaintance was Rob Goldstone, the president of a marketing company who has worked with the Miss Universe organization.