Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross made an appearance at the Milken Institute Global Conference Monday. The commerce secretary’s presence makes sense at the little Beverly Hills clambake, which Bloomberg described as: “Four thousand of the wealthiest, most influential leaders in the world… in what amounts to a peer review of President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.” Sounds like a hoot.
Amidst all of this “peer reviewing,” by Really Important People, Ross took a moment to reflect on the more solemn duties of a president and his administration—the life and death military decisions that change lives and families. During Ross’ lunchtime conversation on stage with David Rubenstein, co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, Ross had this to say about his first brush with military decision-making, which occurred at an ornate Florida resort because that’s how the hardworking people of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania wanted it.
From Variety:
… Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recalled the scene at Mar-a-Lago on April 6, when the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was interrupted by the strike on Syria. “Just as dessert was being served, the president explained to Mr. Xi he had something he wanted to tell him, which was the launching of 59 missiles into Syria,” Ross said. “It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.” As the crowd laughed, Ross added: “The thing was, it didn’t cost the president anything to have that entertainment.”
Didn’t cost anything? This weighing in by Ross on the frivolities of public service came “amid yoga classes and panels on topics as disparate as agriculture and mortgage market structure,” according to Bloomberg. Didn’t cost anything, he said.
