Tom Barrack's Saudi defense, Trump ties are rooted in finance
Of all the people in President Donald Trump's inner circle, Tom Barrack has stood out as self-made, amiable, smooth and credible.
So it may have surprised some to learn that Barrack delivered a speech overseas that so sharply contradicted chants of "USA!" and proclamations of "America first."
The 71-year-old founder and executive chairman of the equity firm Colony Capital served up an ingratiating defense of Saudi Arabia in an address last week at an elite business conference in Abu Dhabi.
Naturally, the slaying of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, apparently in a Saudi consulate — which the CIA blames on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — came up.
When asked about fallout for the kingdom's reputation, Barrack said that "whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse, to the atrocities in Saudi Arabia."
"The atrocities in any autocratic country are dictated by the rule of law," Barrack said. "So for us to dictate what we think is the moral code there, when we have a young man and regime that is trying to push themselves into 2030, I think is a mistake."
"The corrupt hand of the West has been the primary instigator in the kingdom," Barrack said Tuesday.
That's a pretty sweeping indictment from a longtime loyal Republican financier who has made big bucks in the region.
Especially so, given Trump's declaration in Poland in July 2017: "The West will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail."
Barrack issued an apology on Wednesday, calling the Khashoggi killing "atrocious and inexcusable."
The flap had echoes of fallout from Trump's own statements. He has downplayed and talked around the rich monarch's role in the case.
It was also reminiscent of when the president told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, who had called Russian President Vladimir Putin a killer: "We have a lot of killers. Well, you think our country is so innocent?”
Widely liked by those who know him, Barrack plays a unique role in Trump's world. He raised funds for the campaign, chaired the president's inaugural committee and served as a candidate surrogate.
But his contacts and relationship with Trump go deeper. They were all about business, as are Barrack's current actions.
When some players in the United Arab Emirates expressed concern in 2016 about Trump's hostility to Muslims, Barrack assured them that he had joint ventures in the U.A.E.
In the 1980s they did business together as real estate investors. According to published reports, Barrack was instrumental in Trump's purchase of two assets at prices it turned out later he could not afford — the doomed Alexander's department-store chain and the Plaza Hotel.
By 2010 he had acquired $70 million of debt that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner owed on his purchase of the office tower at 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, as The New York Times recalled last year. Barrack was one of the lenders who agreed to give Kushner a break to avert bankruptcy.
In his apology last week, Barrack stated: "“I have always believed and continue to believe that the United States is the greatest country in the world, but our history and our policies in the Middle East have been confusing at times.”
People who are confused by the opaqueness of Trump administration Middle East policies might agree with Barrack's point.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
