Billionaire Stephen Schwarzman Urged Trump To Keep The Dreamers Program

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By Sam Kestenbaum April 13, 2017

Billionaire Stephen Schwarzman has become much closer to the president in recent days and played a critical role in Trump keeping the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as the Dreamers program, which gives the children of illegal immigrants two-year green cards.

Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone Group and longtime acquaintance of President Donald Trump, speaks with the president several times a week, according to a Politico report and spoke with Trump on the telephone before the president made his decision to stick with the Dreamers program.

Schwarzman also recently spoke about a possible reorganization of the White House, according to Politico. The conversation didn’t include specific names.

Schwarzman has been an outspoken Trump supporter and was tapped in December to head an economic advisory committee for Trump.

Schwarzman’s growing influence in Trump’s circle is “welcome news to New York business leaders and moderate Republicans,” Polico reported, “who want the president to abandon his nationalist positions and embrace a more nonideological White House amid lagging poll ratings and infighting dominating the West Wing.”

_Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected]

Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.

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