Ross: Trump’s Missile Strike In Syria Was ‘In Lieu Of After-Dinner Entertainment’

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross smiles while speaking to the media about a new tariff on Canadian lumber during the daily press briefing at the White House, Tuesday, April 25, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross smiles while speaking about a new tariff on Canadian lumber during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Monday said that President Donald Trump’s order to launch a missile strike on a Syrian air base in April “was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.”

According to a report by Variety, Ross made the remark at the Milken Institute Global Conference, where he discussed Trump’s meeting at his private Mar-a-Lago club with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the night of the strike.

“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, as quoted by Variety. “It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.”

The crowd laughed, according to the report, at which point Ross added: “The thing was, it didn’t cost the president anything to have that entertainment.”

According to a report by MarketWatch, the U.S. military, on the other hand, likely paid around $1 million for each Tomahawk missile — 59 of which were used in the strike.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for tena tena says:

    Killing people for fun now instead of just for profit.

    Can we stop winning now?

  2. What kind of rare asshole is this?

  3. “It was in lieu of after-dinner entertainment.” The crowd laughed, according to the report, at which point Ross added: “The thing was, it didn’t cost the president anything to have that entertainment.”

    You thought that was funny?

    Just wait’ll he nukes Pyongyang.

    The whole world will die laughing!

  4. Avatar for tena tena says:

    The kind that builds a coliseum and lets people be mauled to death by animals and kill each other. For after dinner entertainment or all day.

    Attendance at the events was mandatory in Rome.

  5. After the “full course”, the Italians provided Mussolini with some entertainment, to much laughter in the crowd.

    However, I’m sure he wasn’t amused as the cost to him was quite steep.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

162 more replies

Participants

Avatar for ghost Avatar for daveminnj Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for bobatkinson Avatar for george_spiggott Avatar for inversion Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for sickneffintired Avatar for clearwater Avatar for joelopines Avatar for left_in_washington_state Avatar for theghostofeustacetilley Avatar for nymund Avatar for leftcoaster Avatar for tena Avatar for antisachetdethe Avatar for bodie1 Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for cub_calloway Avatar for maximus Avatar for clare Avatar for pauldownard Avatar for evnbt Avatar for donkra

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: