Wilbur Ross, US Commerce Secretary, described the missile attack on Syria as “after-dinner entertainment” to the guests dining at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club on 6 April.
Speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday, Ross recalled the scene when Chinese President Xi Jinping was interrupted with the news.
“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, according to Variey. “It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.”
“The thing was, it didn’t cost the president anything to have that entertainment.”
Ross of course refers to President Trump’s decision to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles in Syria near Homs. The missile launch was in response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack that killed at least 80 civilians.
This decision has signalled the first US military action against Syria, a surprise after Trump has previously stated that he was comfortable with allowing Assad to remain in power.
At least seven people were killed and nine wounded in US missile attack, according to Syrian officials.
Trump also told reporters last month of how he boasted to Chinese President about his decision to attack Syria.
“I was sitting at the table, we had finished dinner,” Trump told Fox Business in an interview last month. “We’re now having dessert—and we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen—and President Xi was enjoying it.”
The US airstrike occurred just two days after the Syrian government used chemical weapons against civilians.
Ross, who is new to government service, reflected on his first impressions on his role in the government.
“I’ve 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. It’s just they’ve been trapped in a fundamentally dysfunctional system.”