Trump friend said to be in talks to become ambassador to Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

Source: The Hill


BY OLIVIA BEAVERS - 08/10/17 10:03 AM EDT




Trump friend said to be in talks to become ambassador to Mexico
© Getty


Tom Barrack, President Trump's longtime friend, is under consideration for the post of ambassador to Mexico, Politico reported Thursday.

Yet White House officials and advisers said Barrack, a successful real estate developer, has expressed concerns about taking the high-profile role. Selling his assets could be also be a hurdle.

"It is his if he wants it," a source told Politico.

Trump's hardline stance on immigration and his campaign promise to have the Mexican government pay for a wall on the southern border have stoked tensions with America's souther neighbor.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/346021-trump-friend-tom-barrack-said-to-be-in-talks-to-become-ambassador-to

[Joanie Baloney]

1. Bet he doesn't speak Spanish

But, he's had the Trump taco bowl.

Good grief.

-JB

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Trump has friends?

[SharonClark]

5. I hear he's charming to his friends

and, of course, they are the greatest people on the face of the earth, ever! Believe me!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. At least, as long as they keep sucking up to him.

The minute a "friend" does anything he doesn't like, they're under that bus with all the other people he's screwed.

[CatMor]

3. I'm surprised Trump has a friend

but he's in real estate so that explains it.

[MiniMe]

4. tRump should concentrate on naming an ambassador to North and South Korea first

[lunasun]

7. More swamp draining

Barrack served as Deputy Undersecretary of the United States Department of the Interior under James G. Watt in the Reagan administration.[4][7]

Barrack was later a principal with the Robert M. Bass Group.[4][6][7] In 1990, he founded Colony Capital, and received initial investment from Bass and GE Capital, and later from Eli Broad, Merrill Lynch, and Koo Chen-fu.[5] He has invested some $200 million in Middle East real estate, $534 million in non-performing German real estate loans, and a $24 million loan to photographer Annie Leibovitz.[9] He also owns the Neverland Ranch.[9] Through Colony Capital, he runs a $25 billion portfolio of assets, from the Fairmont Raffles Hotels International hotel chain in Asia, the Aga Khan's former resort in Sardinia, Resorts International Holdings, One&Only Resorts, Atlantis, etc.[5]

Barrack is a Trustee at the University of Southern California.[11] He has also served on the Board of Directors of Accor, Kerner, First Republic Bank, Continental Airlines, Korea First Bank, and Megaworld Properties & Holdings.[7][12][13] Additionally, French president Nicolas Sarkozy awarded him France's Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.[4]

As of September 2011, Barrack was the 833rd richest person in the world, and the 375th richest in the United States, with an estimated wealth of US$1.1. billion.[9] However, he was no longer a billionaire in 2014.[14]

[bucolic_frolic]

8. Me too!

I know a guy who met a guy who talked to Trump once. Is that enough to grease the wheels?