Donald Trump Billionaire Pal Tom Barrack Testifies That Trump Was A ‘Disaster’ For Business

Real estate financier Tom Barrack said at his criminal trial in New York City on Monday that former President Donald Trump’s “divisive” policies destroyed his billionaire friend’s business.

“Disastrous,” he said, describing how his personal relationship with Trump affected his multibillion-dollar global investment business.

Barack’s case presents a rare scene: an incredibly wealthy baron facing a very real threat of imprisonment. He is accused of endangering the country’s security by abusing his position of influence and power with the Trump administration to make secret deals with the United Arab Emirates.

In this gigantic trial that began last month, federal prosecutors are trying to prove that Barack abused access to the incoming president by using him to secretly lobby on behalf of the Arab royal family. For example, an indictment updated in May alleged that Barack quietly tweaked the GOP platform at the 2016 Republican National Convention — making sure to avoid any mention of the Saudi royal family’s connection to the 9/11 hijackers.

For the jurors, the trial has also become a crash course in the complex and often contradictory US diplomacy in the Middle East. Federal employees had to stick a needle, describing their fractious relationship with the rival royal families of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, emphasizing that they are indeed friendly at times — but not as trustworthy as one might suppose, and certainly “not allies,” as he put it. one of the plaintiffs.

The trial also comes at an opportune time, as the Justice Department portrays the Saudis as reluctant friends on the world stage just as the Biden administration has vowed that the country will suffer “consequences” after its leaders ignored the US president’s demand to keep oil prices low — and instead sided with Russia. By voting to cut production, the 13 countries that make up the oil cartel known as OPEC.

The investment mogul is an old friend of Trump from the heyday of the New York real estate world in the 1980s. Barack’s early support for Trump played a pivotal role in getting Wall Street behind the Republican Party in 2016. He would go on to preside over Trump’s inaugural ceremonies, which were mired in accusations of self-management and corruption and that ended in a settlement with the District Attorney of Columbia.

But at the podium on Monday, Barack frowned and shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he lamented the four years of chaos that followed — and appeared to blame his relationship with Trump for his legal woes today.

Was it better to support someone else? asked his defense attorney.

“In hindsight, no doubt,” Barak groaned, citing “the ongoing drama in which this president found himself.”

Barrack testified that Trump’s racist ban on Muslims and ongoing political sweepstakes made it difficult for the investment firm Colony Capital to maintain its business relationships with Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“I thought it would transform,” he said. “The style was something that I and the others didn’t appreciate.”

When asked how Trump affected his career, Barack began pointing fingers at the former president over his current legal problems.

“I’m sitting with you all today,” he said, before prosecutors interrupted him with an objection and prevented Barak from completing his sentence.

Barak refrained from criticizing the anti-democracy movement Maga with excessive harshness, explicitly playing the role of jurors in “both sides” talk.

“I never imagined that…we could have a dilemma…we couldn’t talk to each other without discussing…from all sides,” he said. “They’re all trying to do the right thing. It’s ugliness to command.”

The company Barrack founded, Colony Capital, rebranded as DigitalBridge Group shortly before the Federal Reserve arrested him in Los Angeles and indicted him in the current criminal case. Barak resigned from the Board of Directors and resigned as CEO.

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