How was President Trump's eldest son deceived?

The age-old saga of strained relations between President Donald Trump and the American press is increasingly being taken too far, to the point of dangerous speculation.

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of US President Donald Trump, is remaining calm in the face of attacks from the American media and has hired legal representation. Photo: Reuters

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the US president, has become the target of intense scrutiny by American media outlets that dislike his father in recent days.

It all started with emails exchanged between Trump Jr. and Rob Goldstone, the manager of a Russian singer, and an appointment with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer, back in June of last year.

At this time, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton had yet become the official presidential nominee of their respective parties.

According to news outlets such as CNN, the New York Times, and even Reuters—a generally neutral news agency—Trump's son was "overjoyed" to hear that Veselnitskaya possessed information that could "defeat" his father's opponent.

A subsequent meeting between the two sides was arranged to take place at Trump Tower headquarters in New York City.

On July 11th, faced with the New York Times' "threat" to publish the full contents of these emails, Trump Jr. decided to release them on Twitter. This decision was considered wise; instead of engaging in a covert struggle with a newspaper that disliked his father, Trump Jr. publicly released them to prove his "innocence."

Trump Jr.'s actions, of course, immediately earned praise from his father, but they did not quell the suspicions and speculation that were being taken too far surrounding the allegations of Russian interference in the US election.

"Attitude speaks volumes."

Images of Trump Jr. have been trending as the top headline in many news outlets, including CNN, which are generally unfavorable to the Trump family. (Screenshot)

In his first email to Trump Jr. on June 3, 2016, Rob said he wrote it on behalf of a mutual friend – Russian pop star Emin Agalarov.

For the Trump family, singer Emin and his father, real estate mogul Aras Agalarov, are no strangers, having collaborated on several business ventures. Agalarov is sometimes referred to as the "Donald Trump of Russia" and has a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the New York Times.

"Emin just called and told me to contact you because there's some interesting news," Rob wrote in the email.

"The Russian Federal Prosecutor General met with Emin's father, Mr. Aras, this morning, and during their meeting they discussed providing the Trump campaign with official information and documents that could incriminate Hillary Clinton and her dealings with Russia; this would be very useful to your father."

This is certainly very sensitive information, part of the Russian government's assistance, as well as that of Emin and Mr. Aras, to Mr. Trump. What do you think is the best way to handle this information, and could you speak directly with Emin?

"It seems we have very little time for that, and if that's the case, I'd especially prefer it at the end of summer," Trump's eldest son responded after just 17 minutes.

The two sides continued exchanging emails over the following days. The content was solely to arrange a direct call between Trump Jr. and Emin, as well as a face-to-face meeting between lawyer Veselnitskaya and Trump's eldest son.

In an email dated June 7, 2016, Rob wrote: "Emin asked me to arrange a meeting between him and a Russian government lawyer who will be flying from Moscow to the US this Thursday." The lawyer Rob was referring to was Ms. Veselnitskaya.

"Great. Paul Manafort (Trump's campaign manager), my brother-in-law (Jared Kushner), and I will be there," Trump Jr. responded.

And that meeting actually happened. Right in Trump Jr.'s office in Trump Tower, just one floor away from Trump's campaign office.

Lacking information or any evidence about the content of the meeting, American news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times began to focus on the attitude of Trump's son, which they described as "visibly delighted."

"These emails are the strongest evidence yet that Trump's campaign aides enthusiastically welcomed Russian help to win the U.S. election," the New York Times asserted emphatically in an article on July 11. For some unknown reason, this section was later deleted.

As one commentator put it, "I don't need to know what you guys said, but your enthusiastic attitude says it all."

Protests outside the White House on July 12th demanded the arrest of Trump Jr. Photo: Reuters

Was Trump's son scammed?

According to those involved, the meeting between Trump Jr., Kushner, and Manafort with Ms. Veselnitskaya "yielded absolutely no meaningful information."

"I was only told I was going to meet someone who had information useful for the campaign. I didn't even know the person's name before the meeting. After a few relaxed minutes, the woman announced she had information that several individuals with ties to Russia were fundraising for the Democratic National Committee and supporting Hillary Clinton."

What she said was vague and nonsensical. No information was provided to substantiate her claims. Clearly, she had no meaningful information. She then steered the conversation towards Russian adoption and the Magnitsky Act.

"It was then that I realized that this was exactly what she wanted to talk about," Trump's son recounted two days ago (July 10).

Rob, the intermediary who arranged the meeting, recounted the exact same thing about Trump Jr. "Those were the most nonsensical things I've ever heard," Rob said, expressing his disappointment.

For her part, lawyer Veselnitskaya, in a statement sent to the New York Times, emphasized that she was not involved in or representing the Russian government to "discuss any details" of the aforementioned meeting.

It appears that Trump Jr. and his campaign were heavily scammed by the Russian lawyer. Rob later claimed that she proactively contacted Emin, asking her to speak with and establish contact with the Trump campaign so that "she could promote herself."

American media outlets have thoroughly investigated the background of this shrewd lawyer. Business Insider reported that Veselnitskaya has close ties to the Kremlin and is married to a former high-ranking Russian official, but overlooked one crucial detail: Veselnitskaya has been an active campaigner against and advocate for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act since its passage in 2012 under Barack Obama.

This law blacklisted Russian individuals suspected of human rights violations in the United States. Moscow was furious and retaliated by banning Americans from adopting Russian children.

While the situation remains unclear (it's highly likely Trump Jr. will have to testify), the way the issue has been exploited and interpreted this time suggests that the conflict between the Trump family and the American media is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

According to Tuoi Tre newspaper