Donald Trump once joked that he had lost all of his close friends since becoming president because they “have such respect for the office of the presidency.”
Trump never had that many friends.
Trump and billionaire real estate investor Thomas Barrack had been friends for thirty years when Trump decided to run for president. Barrack served as chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
By the end of the Trump administration, however, the two men rarely spoke, Politico reported. Trump, according to Politico, was upset that Barrack provided access to foreigners and other contributors to Trump and the inauguration – and that Trump was not getting a piece of the action.
“The president was really surprised to read all about the inauguration and who was trying to buy access and how, because the president doesn’t get any of that money,” a senior administration official said.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/19/donald-trump-cuts-off-tom-barrack-1467191
In addition, Barrack recommended his friend Paul Manafort to be Trump’s campaign manager.
Manafort was later indicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Manafort, who pled guilty, was sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison for committing a series of lobbying and witness tampering crimes.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/13/paul-manafort-sentencing-1219274
The U.S. Justice Department charged Barrack with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign country and trying to advance the financial interests of United Arab Emirates (UAE).
https://time.com/6214772/tom-barrack-trump-ally-trial/
Barrack pleaded not guilty to charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to the FBI.
Barrack was found not guilty on all counts in early November 2022.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thomas-barrack-verdict-not-guilty-trump-friend-foreign-lobbying-trial/
During Barrack’s testimony, he said he thought the Trump’s presidency was “disastrous” for his business.
He also expressed disappointment in Trump as president, adding that he “thought that as soon as [Trump] was elected, he would be more moderate and more acceptable.”
