In the long history of White House scandals, this is the first to begin with a pop song called “Amor”.

Emin Agalarov, a Russian-Azeri pop singer, came to the US in 2012 in search of greater fame. While in Los Angeles, he recorded a music video with the then Miss Universe Olivia Culpo. On the back of this friendship, Emin’s billionaire father Aras Agalarov decided to stump up some of the money for the next Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.

That brought the Agalarovs into contact with Donald Trump, a fellow billionaire real estate developer who owned Miss Universe. They finalised the deal to host the pageant at a June 2013 dinner, also attended by Emin’s publicist Rob Goldstone, in Mr Trump’s Las Vegas hotel.