FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

The VICE Guide to Right Now

Trump Is Pissed His Commerce Secretary Is Sleeping on the Job, Report Says

Talk about low energy.
Drew Schwartz
Brooklyn, US
screenshot via the White House.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is the latest member of Trump's Cabinet to make headlines for winding up on the president's bad side, according to a new report from Axios. One reason the old pals have had a falling out? Apparently Ross can't manage to stay awake in meetings.

Unnamed aides on the Hill told Axios the 80-year-old tends to nod off in the sit-downs pretty regularly, a habit the president can't stand. According to one former administration official, "Wilbur is good until about 11 AM"—which, apparently, is right around the time Trump actually starts working.

Advertisement

His rumored low energy performance was even caught on camera back in May, when the commerce secretary appeared to be taking a power nap during his boss's address in Saudi Arabia.

Trump has reportedly been ticked off at Ross since about halfway through 2017, when the president tore him apart for botching his trade deals with China—negotiations the former Wall Street tycoon had taken the lead on.

"These trade deals, they're terrible," Trump reportedly said to Ross in a meeting. "Your understanding of trade is terrible. Your deals are no good. No good."

The White House has denied the beef, but Trump's reported roasting of Ross doesn't seem too surprising, considering he reportedly once ordered his former chief of staff Reince Priebus to off an annoying fly during a meeting. Now it looks like Priebus's replacement might be on the outs, following a Vanity Fair report that Ivanka is on the hunt for someone to take John Kelly's job.

It doesn't seem like anyone in the White House is safe from Trump's, uh, fire and fury. Rex Tillerson was rumored to be on his way out after the secretary of state allegedly called Trump a "fucking moron," and Trump has publicly shamed Attorney General Jeff Sessions so many times it's a wonder he's still around.

Ross is apparently hoping to save himself from going the way of Steve Bannon, the Mooch, Omarosa, Sean Spicer, and a whole lot of other folks who found themselves up against a guy who made a career out of firing people on TV.

"Wilbur’s been sucking up for months, trying to get back in the president’s good graces,” a source told Axios.

Follow Drew Schwartz on Twitter.