US Senate confirms private equity executive Barrack as ambassador to Turkey

· May 2, 2025

Tom Barrack, founder of Colony Capital and longtime ally of Donald Trump, speaks during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Barrack was nominated in December 2024 by Trump to serve as US ambassador to Turkey. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed private equity executive Thomas Barrack, a longtime friend and backer of President Donald Trump, to be US ambassador to Turkey, a NATO member that in recent years has had strained ties with the United States, Reuters reported.

The Senate confirmed Barrack by 60 votes to 36, with almost all his support coming from Trump’s fellow Republicans, who hold 53 seats in the 100-member chamber.

Barrack, founder of the real estate investment trust Colony Capital Inc., was acquitted in 2022 on all nine counts after he was charged with using his influence with Trump’s 2016 campaign and administration to push the policy interests of the United Arab Emirates, without notifying the US attorney general as required by law.

When he nominated Barrack in December, Trump cited his decades managing the global private equity firm as a qualification.