The event will be attended by journalists, diplomats, businesspeople, and the owner of the agency that worked for Călin Georgescu.
The son of the US president, Donald Trump Jr., who has posted harsh criticism of the Romanian authorities in recent months, is landing today at around 11 a.m. at Băneasa airport. He will be the main speaker at the "Trump Business Vision 2025" conference, which will take place at 6 p.m. at the Intercontinental Athenee Palace hotel in Bucharest.
Trump Jr. is coming from Sofia, Bulgaria, where he held a similar conference yesterday, and will leave after midnight for Belgrade, Serbia.
Who is Sebastian Ghiță, Trump Jr.'s host?
The event in Bucharest is organized by România TV, controlled by Sebastian Ghiță. A former member of parliament and member of the SRI Control Commission, who is being investigated in several criminal cases, he fled to Serbia nine years ago, where he was granted political asylum.
Two months ago, prosecutors in Ploiești requested a new arrest warrant in absentia against him for influence peddling, money laundering, and forming an organized criminal group.
The owner of an IT empire with contracts worth hundreds of millions of euros with the Romanian state, Ghiță is a close associate of former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who is running in the presidential elections taking place at the end of this week. At the beginning of this election campaign, Ponta recounted how he had obtained Serbian citizenship following the floods of 2014, claiming that he had diverted the waters of the Danube to villages in southern Romania to save the Serbian capital.
Ghiță is the shadow owner of România TV, which is officially owned by the current general manager, Catrinel Gheorghe, who was actually responsible for organizing Trump Jr.'s visit.
After fleeing to Serbia, Ghiță broadcast a series of filmed statements on the television station he controls, in which he attacked the DNA and other Romanian state institutions. In one of these statements, he accused prosecutors of acting on orders from the Americans, revealing the identity of a diplomat from the US Embassy who, he claims, was the head of the CIA station in Romania.
The owner of FameUP, who promoted Georgescu
Sources consulted by Newsweek Romania described the crowd attending Trump Jr.'s conference as extremely diverse. Among the dubious characters, some with criminal records or convictions, more or less well-known businesspeople, and a handful of journalists close to the "sovereignist" camp, the names of Romanian and foreign diplomats also appear.
One guest who stands out is Ionuț Pătrășcoiu, owner of Fame UP, a platform designed to promote influencers.
The company's name appears in documents declassified by the Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT), which were also used as grounds for the Constitutional Court's decision to annul last November's presidential elections. According to these documents, Fame UP was involved in artificially increasing the influence of pro-Russian candidate Călin Georgescu on TikTok.
All those close to candidate Victor Ponta
Among the guests at Trump Jr.'s conference there are several close associates of Victor Ponta. In a place of honor is Cătălin Tohăneanu, former representative of Pro Romania, the party founded and dissolved by the former prime minister after leaving the PSD. Since 2023, Tohăneanu has been Grand Master of the Grand National Lodge of Romania, the largest Masonic organization in our country.
Next are Nicolae Bănicioiu, former PSD deputy and Minister of Health in the Ponta Government, and Marian Cucșă, former ALDE deputy. The latter has since moved on to AUR and Cristian Terheș's party, and is now president of the Republican Party of Romania. Cucșa has also been seen with Trump Jr., with whom he posed at one of the parties for the inauguration of the new US president.
One of Ponta's closest collaborators, Geanina Pușcașu, is also invited to today's conference. In 2019, she ran for the European Parliament elections on the Pro Romania party list. A former employee in Brussels in Daciana Sârbu's office, Pușcașu has also served as state advisor to the prime minister and held numerous lucrative positions in state-owned companies such as Hidroelectrica, Nuclearelectrica, Bucharest Airports, and the National Credit Guarantee Fund for SMEs.
Two Romanian ambassadors. One denies participation
Among the guests at Trump Jr.'s conference there are two names identical to those of serving Romanian ambassadors.
One is Cristian Maior (the other first name, George, is not mentioned). The name corresponds to that of the former director of the Romanian Intelligence Service. Currently ambassador to Jordan, he was our country's representative in the US between 2015 and 2021, a period that coincides with President Trump's first term.
Maior was Victor Ponta's godfather. According to the former president of the SRI Control Commission, Adrian Țuțuianu, he was on vacation in Italy with General Florian Coldea and Sebastian Ghiță.
However, sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claim that Maior will not attend today's event.
The second name coincides with that of diplomat Bogdan Mănoiu, Romania's ambassador to Canada and former secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He told us yesterday that he knew nothing about the invitation and would not be attending.
Will the ambassadors of the US, the UK, and Greece be present?
Among the guests at Trump Jr.'s conference there are four important foreign diplomats stationed in Bucharest: Katherine Kavalec, US ambassador, appointed during the former US administration, Giles Portman, ambassador of the United Kingdom, Grammatika Evangelia, ambassador of Greece, and Rami Teplitskiy, deputy ambassador of Israel. The latter told us that he will not attend the event.
Ghiță's brother, who is under investigation by the DNA. Plus his sister and girlfriend's mother
The audience at the event organized by România TV is packed with Sebastian Ghiță's close associates, from relatives to business partners.
One of those who will be present today is the host's brother, Alexandru Ghiță, who was also indicted by the DNA, but the case was returned to the prosecutor's office three years ago.
Two other guests, Iuliana Denisa Niță and Maria Niță, are the sister and mother, respectively, of Oana Niță, who the Romanian press claims is Ghiță's current girlfriend. The three are shareholders in the company that owns the Nissa clothing brand.
Also expected at Trump Jr.'s conference is Bogdan Diaconu, a former PSD deputy who founded the United Romania Party (PRU) in 2014, a "sovereignist" party financed by Ghiță.
Pro-Georgescu journalists. Plus the owner of INSCOP
Among those who will attend Trump Jr.'s conference there is the director and owner of România TV, Catrinel Gheorghe, who organized the visit.
Other media guests include Marius Tucă from Gândul, Robert Turcescu from Metropola TV, and Răzvan Savaliuc from Luju.ro. All three are outspoken supporters of the pro-Russian Călin Georgescu and vehement critics of the cancellation of last November's presidential elections.
Also present will be Dan Andronic, owner of Evenimentul Zilei, and Bogdan Chirieac from DC News. The former has visited fugitive Ghiță several times in Belgrade, while the latter is a regular guest on România TV.
Another participant is Remus Ștefureac, director of INSCOP Research, one of the polling companies that places Ponta in the final round of the presidential elections in May.
A former Moldovan prime minister. And the pro-Russian mayor of Chișinău
Among the guests at Trump Jr.'s conference there are two controversial figures from across the Prut River.
One appears to be Ion Ceban, the current mayor of Chișinău, who has been a member of both the Communist Party and the Socialist Party, both of which are pro-Russian. In 2014, he initiated a bill to abolish the agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, and in 2022, on the day the invasion of Ukraine began, he was visiting Moscow.
The second is former Moldovan foreign minister and prime minister Iurie Leancă. A graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, used by the KGB as a breeding ground for agents, Leancă worked in 1989 at the Soviet Embassy in Bucharest. He is also close to Ponta, running in the 2019 European Parliament elections on the Pro Romania list.
Businesspeople and managers. Some with criminal records
Many of the more than 100 guests at Trump Jr.'s conference are more or less well-known businesspeople. The price of a seat at the table is at least €12,500.
Among them is Adrian Thiess, a supporter of pro-Russian Călin Georgescu last fall. A few days after the Constitutional Court canceled the elections, Thiess went to Belgrade to meet with Brad Parscale, Donald Trump's former online campaign consultant.
Another businessman who will be present is Corvin Pughin, owner of Maguay, who was prosecuted by the DNA but acquitted after the court annulled the wiretaps made by the SRI.
Also invited are Ciprian Scrieciu, owner of Bomboniera, Ștefan Unchiașu, owner of Avangarde Rezidențial, Malvina Cservenschi, owner of Malvensky, Eugen Caragui, owner of Ion Moș.
Representing one of the largest Romanian petroleum product trading companies, Oscar Downstream, with a turnover of €1.4 billion in 2024, no fewer than three managers will be present: Nicolae Bănică, Claudiu Conțanu, and Mihai Măcelaru.
Another manager on the list is Dorin Pena, former general manager of CISCO Romania, who coordinated the American company's operations in the former Soviet states.
Ghiță's associate and Burci's emissary. Plus the head of Electrica Furnizare
Another guest from the business world is Elena Culcescu, a partner in several companies with close ties to Sebastian Ghiță. One of these companies is listed in a criminal case opened by the European Public Prosecutor's Office and recently registered with the Bucharest Court. According to the press, Culcescu lent money to both Ghiță's United Romania Party and Ponta's Pro Romania Party.
Four of the guests at Trump Jr.'s conference have the surname Meșca. Their father is Darius Dumitru Meșca, general manager of the state-owned company Electrica Furnizare, where he earns an annual salary of over €100,000. His wife, Anca Cristina Meșca, is employed by Ghiță's company Ridzone Computers, which at one point held the license for România TV. The Meșca couple will be accompanied at the event by their two children.
Another participant is Silviu Mitroi, owner of the company Mediplus. He was previously associated with Cristian Burci, owner of the Adevărul trust, alongside whom he was indicted by DIICOT in the ROMVAG case.
Burci is a close associate of Sebastian Ghiță, whom he visited in Belgrade. He was also indicted, along with Liviu Dragnea, for attempting to obtain military procurement contracts worth billions of dollars through the company of American lobbyist Elliot Broidy, who was involved in Trump's 2016 campaign.
