MEDIA/SAUDI ARABIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Tom Barrack, CEO of Colony Capital and a close friend of President Donald Trump, has dropped out of next week’s Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia. Barrack told CNN that his session at the summit was canceled because he was scheduled to speak with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who pulled out of the event on Thursday [10-18-18]…Barrack, a real estate investor, has known Trump for 40 years. He’s previously helped raise money to support Trump’s political ambitions and has publicly defended the president. A wave of top executives withdrew from the high-profile investment conference this week amid growing controversy over dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance and apparent killing. JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon, BlackRock (BLK) CEO Larry Fink and Blackstone (BX) CEO Stephen Schwarzman said earlier this week that they will not attend. Mnuchin announced his decision shortly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo briefed Trump on his visit earlier this week to Riyadh to discuss the Khashoggi case.”
–Julia Horowitz and Cristina Alesci, “Tom Barrack, CEO and Trump friend, drops out of Saudi conference,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, October, 19, 2018 4:08 pm