Variety- Speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday, 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 didnt cost the president anything to have that entertainment.
Ross, a billionaire financier, is new to government service. In the lunchtime conversation with David Rubenstein, co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, Ross reflected on his first impressions of public service.
Ive been heartened, he said. I thought the quality of people in the government was not as high as it has turned out to be. There are actually quite a lot of very good, very serious, very intelligent people wanting to do their best. Its just theyve been trapped in a fundamentally dysfunctional system.
The presidents tax cut proposal has been a hot topic among the business community at this years conference. Rubenstein asked Ross whether it was realistic to expect a tax plan to pass this year.
I certainly hope so, he said. God knows Congress has debated the issue enough times. Its really a question of, Is there the willpower to do it? If the Republican side can get itself unified, then it will work, even if the Democrats remain as determined as they seem to be to block any kind of progress.