Trump’s disgraceful diplomat: How Tom Barrack is selling out America to Ankara

After the First World War, Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol was appointed to head the American mission in Constantinople, spending nearly a decade telling the State Department that reports of the Armenian genocide were mere “missionary exaggerations.” In doing so, he shielded Turkey from congressional scrutiny and gave birth to a corrosive doctrine that still infects Foggy Bottom: Protect the commercial relationship, and the crimes will sort themselves out. A century later, billionaire Tom Barrack has updated this shameful legacy for Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman court.Barrack assumed this role on May 14, 2025, presenting his credentials at the Dictator’s bunker following a 60–36 Senate vote. He quickly consolidated power, seizing a concurrent role as presidential envoy for Syria and Iraq. Today, a single private equity financier speaks for Washington across three critical, deeply volatile capitals. Yet rather than projecting American strength, this “diplomat” heels whenever Erdogan whistles. Recommended Stories Barrack’s handling of the region’s anti-Israel file demonstrates a dangerous pattern of appeasement. Speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Barrack claimed that Israel and Hezbollah were “equally untrustworthy,” argued for “a path with Hezbollah” that avoids “killing Hezbollah,” and warned Jerusalem not to “box Turkey out” of Gaza. In his view, Zionism was reduced to a “question as to a definition,” while Israel could merely “claim” to be a democracy. By August 2026, his rhetoric had completely unraveled. In an interview with Mario Nawfal, Barrack asserted that Israel “still occupies the Golan against the UN resolutions” (directly contradicting standing U.S. policy), while publicly accusing the Jewish state of “baiting” Turkey with its strikes on a Syrian airbase. Though he scrambled to walk back the comments after swift bipartisan backlash, the damage was done. Precedents dictate policy. Allied officials now use just two words to describe Washington’s top representative in Ankara: “Erdogan’s man.”The track record speaks for itself: Pro-Turkey service consumes the courtier’s regional portfolio. Barrack dismisses neo-Ottoman expansionism as mere nonsense, demanding Ankara’s restoration to the elite F-35 fighter program despite its S-400 purchase. He midwived the total betrayal of the Syrian Democratic Forces and the lifting of Syria sanctions, all while ethics officials flagged heightened conflict risks in his Turkey-linked assets. Barrack’s Colony Capital booked massive gains on Turkish investments while raising $1.5 billion from Gulf sources. A 2022 acquittal for acting as an unregistered foreign agent merely closed a legal docket; financial self-interest ensures this courtier keeps fetching for Turkish autocracy.Although the White House may preach “partnership,” the Turkish Islamist danger remains geostrategic. Sultan Erdogan treats Incirlik Air Base and its American nuclear gravity bombs as hostages. Meanwhile, a NATO capital has become an active planning node for designated terrorists, with Israeli intelligence naming five Hamas figures directing West Bank attacks from Istanbul. To pretend otherwise is pure fantasy: Greece, Cyprus, and Israel have learned that American loyalty is optional, leaving the Eastern Mediterranean to risk becoming a Turkish lake with a U.S. stamp of approval.MIDDLE EAST ‘NEUTRALITY’ IS A FRAUD. TRUMP MUST SHATTER IT BEFORE THE TRAP IS COMPLETECongress must ban this dual-hatted role immediately. The ambassador to Turkey should not hold the Syria or Iraq presidential envoy portfolios, and the U.S. ambassador to the Jewish state must countersign any instruction affecting Israeli national security. Lawmakers should also strengthen the Arms Export Control Act, and add a strict “Host-of-Terrorists” clause to deny all weapons waivers to any government sheltering terrorist chiefs. Most urgently, the Senate must force the Pentagon to certify a live plan to transfer the Incirlik nuclear mission to Souda Bay in Crete and to Romania. Briefing this plan in open session will strip Erdogan of the blackmailing strategy he uses to keep American diplomats on a leash.Bristol called his work realism — history called it malpractice. Barrack carries the same stick. Bring the courtier home.Jose Lev Alvarez is an American–Israeli scholar specializing in international security policy. A multilingual veteran of the IDF special forces and the U.S. Army, he holds three master’s degrees and is completing a Ph.D. in Intelligence and Global Security in the Washington, D.C., area.