Tom Barrack: You'll be "shocked" by how good Donald Trump is as president
If you didn’t like the Donald Trump you saw on the campaign trail, his longtime friend and ally, Tom Barrack, says you could expect a “softer, kinder” Trump as president.
Comparing the campaign to a “UFC fight in an octagon,” Barrack — founder and executive chairman of Colony Capital — said Trump the candidate was a “martial artist” who had been using “whatever tools necessary to convey a very disruptive message.”
“And now that’s over, you’re going to see him return to Trump the president,” Barrack told “CBS This Morning” Thursday. “And you have a man who has built a life on consensus, on conciliation, on compromise, on getting things done. And I think his detractors are going to be shocked about how good he is.”
The first task for America’s next president, Barrack said, is to heal the nation. He said Trump has already started that process with his conciliatory victory speech and by reaching out to political leaders who once denounced him — Barrack mentioned Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — and other world leaders.
“He’s kind, he’s soft, he’s sympathetic, he’s compassionate. And all of those tools can now come into play because he actually is the president-elect.”
And he’ll do that, Barrack said, while addressing his “harsh angles,” including his controversial pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. “He’ll build a wall, but it’ll be walls of understanding,” Barrack said.
“And the harsh policies that people are fearful with can only be addressed in tiny, little inches of consensus amongst Congress, the Senate and the people,” he added.
“So you think it was largely campaign rhetoric — you don’t think he’ll follow through with that?” co-host Norah O’Donnell asked to clarify his point.
“No, I think it has nothing to do with campaign rhetoric because it’s touching the heart of the people on issues that concern them,” Barrack said. “Now remember, this isn’t a dictatorship; it’s a presidency. And he has to advise and consent in a compromised and consensus say, so nothing is going to happen abruptly.”
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Barrack said he’s “1,000 percent” confident in Trump’s ability to do so, by reaching across the aisle, and that there’s “nobody better at doing that than him.” Barrack backed his claim by citing Trump’s business developments in New York City despite “regulatory” and “environmental hurdles,” dealing with unions, contractors and more.
One of the senior advisers on Trump’s financial team during his campaign, Barrack also said we could expect a tax code replacement and tax reform.
“Tax code now is 77,000 pages. It’s impossible to predict, and what’s happened is the offshoring of corporate America has been immense. So the tax code, in addition to fiscal policy and stimulus and importing back that capital that we’ve lost and making it for simpler for corporations to invest, is the key to increasing revenue.”
But many Americans are still not prepared for a Trump presidency. Since his stunning upset victory in the early hours of Wednesday morning, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in cities across the nation.
Barrack said he understood them, but called for unity.
“Remember, we’ve had a Clinton or a Bush [in the] administration since 1980, so what you’re feeling is the same way the taxi cabs and the limousines felt with Uber. When Uber came in there were riots in the streets from the regulators, from the taxis, from the limousines. Nobody understood it. And today, Uber is the flavor of the month,” Barrack said. “It’s fine. You can be upset, you can be conciliatory, and then we can gather together as Americans, as one team behind the president and we can march with different views.”
Barrack served in former President Ronald Reagan’s administration as deputy under secretary of the Department of the Interior, and is also a rumored contender for treasury secretary in the Trump administration. Showing a bit of hesitation to address the rumor, Barrack said he would “not really be very interested,” but added he will do anything he can “to help the nation and the president-elect.”