In a villa overlooking Kinshasa earlier this year, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo posed a question to a visiting American diplomat. A Texas investor named Gentry Beach had been touring Central Africa, offering to buy mining concessions as part of what he described as an “economic diplomacy” campaign tied to President Trump. Beach had shared text messages with Donald Trump Jr., and photos of the two together. Unsurprisingly, the Congolese leader wanted to know: was this man speaking for the U.S. government?
Thousands of miles away, officials in Pakistan wondered the same. Beach, a college friend of Trump Jr., met with the country’s prime minister in January, promising to invest billions in mineral extraction and luxury real estate. “I’ve been very close with the Trump administration for a long time,” he told reporters. Similar meetings in Abu Dhabi, Bangladesh, and Germany left foreign leaders and diplomats uncertain whether they were dealing with a private businessman or a messenger from the White House.
A Global Circuit of Confusion
Beach has styled himself as a dealmaker in the mold of his friend’s father. Since Trump’s return to office last year, he has traveled to more than 20 countries, pitching projects in mining, energy, and infrastructure. His new company, America First Global, echoes Trump’s campaign slogan. In interviews with The Wall Street Journal, Beach insisted he has no official role and never invokes the Trump name to close deals. Instead, he says he’s pioneering a “new model of diplomacy” that binds American interests to those of U.S. allies through business investment.
“Everyone views Trump as a transactional president,” Beach told the Journal. “They say, ‘If we get American businessmen here, America has something to lose.’”
But foreign governments are not used to parsing such distinctions. In the absence of clear signals from Washington, some have treated Beach’s outreach as quasi-official. Local embassies have had to clarify that Beach represents no U.S. agency. His claim to speak for economic diplomacy may sound patriotic, but to diplomats and other government it smacks of cowboy freewheeling.
Trump Jr. Distances Himself
Donald Trump Jr., who once described Beach as one of his “true friends,” has grown frustrated with the confusion. On his own trips abroad, Trump Jr. has been approached by officials referencing business proposals they believed involved him and Beach. He has told associates he was “exasperated” to find himself cleaning up misunderstandings.
In August, his attorney sent Beach a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he stop identifying himself as a partner or intermediary. Beach denied ever seeing it, though Journal reporters reviewed texts in which he confirmed receipt.
The friendship runs deep. Beach was a groomsman at Trump Jr.’s wedding and a frequent hunting companion. Over the years, Trump Jr. invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Beach’s ventures – from oil wells in Texas to a hydroponic lettuce startup. But they haven’t done business together since 2017, and Trump Jr. has declined public comment. Privately, people close to him say he’s wary of Beach’s behavior tarnishing the family’s brand.
History of Overreach
This isn’t the first time Beach has straddled the line dividing business from diplomacy. During Trump’s first term, he and fellow Texas investor Tom Hicks Jr. lobbied White House officials to roll back sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company, a move that could have benefited potential investors. According to recent reporting by The Daily Beast and The Associated Press, National Security Council lawyers flagged the proposal as inappropriate and shelved it.
Beach’s record in business has been equally uneven. His hedge fund settled securities violations with the SEC in 2013. Later, he was sued for failing to deliver hundreds of thousands of dollars in pandemic-era protective equipment. Court records show he acknowledged the debt but never paid. Those episodes did little to dim his confidence. After the 2024 election, he registered multiple companies with “America First” branding and began courting governments from Rwanda to Turkey.
A Problem of Optics and Oversight
The State Department, Commerce Department, and U.S. embassies abroad already maintain formal programs to support American investment and coordinate economic diplomacy. The Trump administration has also appointed official envoys and advisors to oversee outreach in regions like the Middle East and Africa. While private sector entrepreneurs must be free to expand their businesses, they must operate independently of government and cannot influence policy or represent government interests.
Beach has rejected the idea that his conduct sows confusion. “I’m there purely as a businessman,” he told the Journal. “Involving the Trump family in my business would only create confusion.” Yet his global itinerary — packed with photo ops alongside foreign heads of state — has blurred that boundary. In January, the government of Bangladesh posted an official photo of Beach meeting its chief adviser, captioned: “Mr. Gentry Beach, close associate of President Trump.”
The Risks of Shadow Diplomacy
Some experts argue that while private sector engagement is vital to advancing American economic interests, unauthorized diplomacy can create significant risks. The Logan Act, a centuries-old statute, prohibits private citizens from conducting foreign negotiations on behalf of the United States. Though rarely enforced, it underscores the legal and ethical barriers designed to prevent personal business from masquerading as statecraft.
“U.S. diplomacy relies on clarity,” said Elizabeth Rosenberg, a former Treasury Department official who has studied sanctions enforcement. “When private actors present themselves as unofficial envoys, they introduce uncertainty that adversaries can exploit.”
So far, the White House has avoided public comment on Beach’s activities. But within Washington, his travels have become a cautionary tale about the perils of blurred lines. President Trump has long championed the idea of exporting American business power as a tool to support American interests abroad. Yet when figures like Gentry Beach take amplify that message and run their own course with it, the result can resemble shadow diplomacy that leaves Washington scrambling to untangle what is real and what is self-invented.
