Who is Gentry Beach, the man pushing Trump business deals in Pakistan, Turkey and Bangladesh?

A friend of Donald Trump Jr seems to be pushing business deals for the family in Pakistan, Turkey and Bangladesh.

US businessman Gentry Thomas Beach has visited all three countries recently.

He has also met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and  Muhammad Yunus.

The development comes amid reports that a crypto deal between a private US crypto firm with links to the Trump family and Pakistan’s newly-established crypto council – even as Trump tried to present himself as a ‘peacemaker’ between India and Pakistan.

But what do we know about Beach? What about this connection to the Trump family?

Let’s take a closer look:

Who is he?

As per LinkedIn, Beach is the CEO and co-founder of investment firm Highground Holdings.

Beach, who hails from Texas, also co-founded Valence Chemicals in 2021.

As per his website, Beach has a BSC in Economics with a specialisation in finance from the Wharton School of Business.

Beach kicked off his career as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.

He was a portfolio manager at Touradji Capital.

He also helped manage portfolios at Solstice Equity and the BBT Funds.

He then founded Vollero Beach Capital Partners – a global hedge fund based in New York and Dallas.

Beach lives in Texas’ Tyler with his wife and five children.

As per The Times of India, Beach’s father Gary was convicted for bankruptcy fraud.

What’s his connection to the Trump family?

As per Economic Times, he is a long-time friend of Donald Trump Jr – the
eldest child of US President Donald Trump.

Beach and Trump Jr met at the Wharton School of Business.

They frequently go hunting together.

As per DNA India, a court case involving Beach and his former employer resulted in emails being leaked between Beach and Don Jr which contained racial slurs.

As per The Guardian, Beach
raised millions of dollars for Trump
during the 2016 campaign.

Beach was then given access to the top Trump officials including those on the powerful National Security Council.

Beach then tried “to push a plan that could curb US sanctions in Venezuela and open up business for US companies in the oil-rich nation.”

Beach’s trips to Pakistan

As per Economic Times, Beach visited Pakistan on January 30 – within a fortnight of Trump taking office – alongside a number of investors in a company called White Bridge Global.

Beach is reportedly chairman of the company.

The visit was organised by Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

Top military officials such as Army chief Asim Munir and Lt Gen Sarfaraz Ahmed are on the SIFC.

White Bridge and a firm called Apex Energy have seemingly signed a deal to explore placer gold deposits near the Indus River.

As per DNA India, Beach,
who referred to himself a ‘Trump associate
,’ met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Top Pakistani ministers including the finance and foreign minister were present at the meet.

“America cares about Pakistan… You are our front face in the entire region,” Beach told Sharif.

Beach also said the US would invest in Pakistan across several areas.

“We plan on investing billions of dollars in Pakistan across a number of different areas, including critical minerals and real estate […] From a real estate perspective, we brought our real estate development partners, and I am going to build some of the most high-end and luxury properties ever seen in Pakistan,” Beach was quoted as saying by Dawn.com.

“We view Pakistan as one of the biggest global opportunities [ … ] which is very unique,” Beach added.

“Pakistan has something that America needs, and America has something that Pakistan needs,” Beach, referring to Pakistan’s mineral reserves, said as per The Diplomat. “That’s a wonderful situation for both of us to be in.”

As per Arab News, Pakistan estimates it has mineral reserves worth $6 trillion.

“We have several locations and due diligence that we are working on right now,” Beach was quoted as saying by the outlet. “We’re bringing in the teams as we speak to evaluate those. I believe that we will have one of those [agreements on minerals] signed, agreed to and funding in the next two weeks.”

He said teams would be visiting soon to examine Pakistan’s oil and gas sector.

He also praised the country’s “incredible natural gas infrastructure already in place.”

“You have the infrastructure, you never go to a developing country where the infrastructure is already in place and you have to just supply the gas,” he said. “That is a huge opportunity.”

Beach said the US could bring in Western technology in drilling in Pakistan and “develop things very quickly.”

“We see ourselves as the first one through the door,” he said. “Then we are going to bring lots of Western companies through the door.”

As per The Times of India, Beach after returning to Mar-a-Lago
raved about ‘an amazing place called Pakistan’ to Trump and Trump Jr.

Beach once again met Sharif in February – this time in Dubai.

Beach in Bangladesh

As per TBS News, Gentry on January 30 also visited Bangladesh – where he met Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.

Special Envoy to Chief Adviser Lutfey Siddiqi Bangladesh Investment Development Authorities chairman, Ashik Chowdhury, and senior secretary to SDG affairs, Lamiya Morshed, were also present  at the meet.

Beach again vowed to invest in a number of sectors including finance and energy.

“You’ve done a great job,” Beach told Yunus. “It is time for more investment to come to this country. We are excited to be here. “We will make Bangladesh great again.”

“The country is ready for business. The business conditions are now right. We are beginning a new chapter in our history,” the chief adviser said.

Beach in Turkey

While in Turkey, Beach suggesting making the country the global hub of production.

His remarks came in the backdrop of US-China tensions.

“We need to turn Türkiye into a production center. This has become more important today due to the backlash against China,” Beach said

As per DNA India, Beach’s White Bridge Global has also signed a joint venture with Turkish firm Terra Holdings in Dubai.

“This partnership has a global perspective and aims to create long-term value in every field of investment,” Beach said, as per Turkey Today. “With Tera Holding’s visionary approach, operational expertise, and financial strength, we will make a difference across a wide range—from digital infrastructure and energy to natural resources and next-generation technologies.”

With inputs from agencies