title:  How Trump Tried To Get Money From A Terrorist-Backing Dictator
text: Despite his tough talk on international affairs, slamming Democrats like President Obama and Hillary Clinton for being soft on terror and terrorism, it turns out Donald Trump tried to strike up a business deal with a notorious terror financier and dictator.It s part of a pattern of Trump doing anything under the sun in order to generate money for himself, never mind the moral quicksand involved. In this instance it was an attempt to do business with notorious Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.Donald Trump tried to raise money from the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi two years before a 2011 revolution toppled the brutal leader, according to four people with knowledge of the effort. Trump even tried to set up a meeting with the tyrant himself, three of the sources say, to explore business ventures   despite the Libyan leader s notorious sponsorship of terrorism that killed scores of Americans.Gaddafi infamously bankrolled militants around the world, including the IRA, and most notoriously the men responsible for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 243 passengers, 16 crew members, and 11 people on the ground.The dictator s role in the bombing was well known   for decades   by the time Trump was buzzing around, looking for another deal to add to his bottom line.Trump approached the Libyan government through several channels, BuzzFeed News has learned, including the then-Libyan ambassador to the U.S., Ali Aujali. The billionaire invited Aujali, said to be an avid golfer, to Florida for time on the links, according to a former Libyan embassy official, a former U.S. government official, and a Washington insider with direct knowledge of the effort.In addition to his racist appeals to the base of the Republican Party, Trump has used his so-called business success as his calling card during the campaign. Many of his business ventures have failed including Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump casinos and Trump Magazine, among others. In addition to failure, like this apparent attempt to work with a dictator, ventures like Trump University and allegations of fraud continue to plague the candidate and don t appear to be going away any time soon.Featured image via Flickr/YouTube