For one.....Manafort apparently has a suite in Trump Tower.
slate.com
EXCERPT--Trump and Manafort have been operating in close circles for decades. In 1980, Manafort, the conservative Charles Black, and Roger Stone (all Reagan campaign officials) opened a DC lobbying shop...one of their very first clients: Donald Trump, who employed the lobbying firm of Black, Manafort & Stone through the early 1990s.
Both Manafort and Trump were active in the New Jersey political scene in the 1980s, and later, were involved in lobbying Capitol Hill on American Indian gaming issues.
Since 2006, Manafort has owned a condo in Trump Tower in Manhattan, and around the same time, became involved in the Manhattan real estate scene.
It’s certainly possible both men didn’t know each other well before 2016, but to say they had “some business in the 1980s” does not capture the many ways Trump and Manafort have been crossing paths for decades. --SNIP--
True...but it would be most illustrative to examine how Manafort came to be part of the campaign.
Did someone give Trump a suggestion, did Trump run him down on his own...or did Manafort go to him and offer his services?
I think that would be most interesting to find out...