White House invites Trump business allies to Bahrain forum on Middle East peace plan: report

Several Trump business allies have reportedly been invited to an economic meeting that aims to spur investment in the Middle East as part of the administration’s peace plan.

Colony Capital CEO Tom Barrack, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Goldman Sachs’s Dina Powell were invited to the summit, CNBC reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Barrack spokesman Owen Blicksilver confirmed the real estate investment CEO’s participation in the meeting in a statement to The Hill.{mosads}

“Tom is pleased to be a participant in a well organized forum for the purpose of advancing the peace process in the Middle East,” Blicksilver said. “He has been a lifelong advocate of economic prosperity being a foundation stone of hope for the entire region especially its exploding young and largely unemployed population.”

A source familiar with the situation confirmed to The Hill that Schwarzman was invited. 

Officials from Goldman declined to comment to CNBC and did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. The White House also did not immediately return a request for comment and BlackRock declined to comment. 

Barrack was the chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee. According to CNBC, he also wrote a white paper for the administration that mentions expanding business opportunities in the Middle East. 

Powell has served as a Trump administration deputy national security adviser. Schwarzman is a major donor to the president’s reelection campaign and has, alongside Fink, served on a Trump CEO advisory panel.

The White House announced the meeting, dubbed “Peace to Prosperity,” last month. It will be held on June 25 and June 26 in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, and will focus on creating a prosperous future for the Palestinian people, officials said.