- Former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross says President-elect Donald Trump will be buoyed in his second round at the White House by experience, a team in place, and both the Senate and House of Representatives supporting his policies.
President-elect Trump is returning to the White House with some notable additions to his entourage. From Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Silicon Valley veteran Marc Andreessen, the Republican entrepreneur is bringing a new breed of power player directly to Capitol Hill.
With that has come a new frontier of influence, whether it’s Musk tweeting endorsements on his social media platform X or Andreessen sharing with podcasters what it’s like to be hosted at Mar-a-Lago.
Usually, the inner workings of the cabinet and Oval Office tend to be slightly more under wraps—at least until the team in charge has relinquished power.
But Trump is a new kind of politician, and his second administration looks set to be quite different than his first.
One of those who worked closely with Trump in his first administration—and has a clear view of what his second will be like—is former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Speaking to Fortune, the 86-year-old banker turned D.C. power player explained that the incoming second-time Commander in Chief is a man willing to change his mind, prone to action, and emboldened by a House now bathed in red.
Managing Trump
As many Fortune readers will know, one of the defining characteristics of a successful employee is how they manage themselves and their teams, as well as how they manage their boss.
Handling the expectations of the Commander in Chief is another ballpark entirely—especially if you’re dealing with a particularly large (and sometimes unpredictable) character.
Before he received the call from the Trump team, Secretary Ross was no stranger to working with prominent bosses. A former investment banker, Secretary Ross worked with President Bill Clinton on the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund and as an advisor to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The man appointed to Secretary of Commerce in 2017 painted a complex picture of the President-elect: A man open to advice, willing to change his mind—though sometimes with an “initial inclination toward the more bold and dramatic.”
He uses Trump’s position on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as one example. The then-president was a fierce critic of the deal with Mexico and Canada.
Secretary Ross explained: “Some of his people recommended that he drop out of NAFTA first and then begin the negotiation. I felt that that was not the correct strategy—that it was better to use the threat of withdrawal in the negotiations rather than play that card.
“After a very lively discussion involving not just me but Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Perdue and others, we resolved not to pull out of NAFTA prior to the negotiations.”
“[Trump’s] initial inclination always is toward the more bold and more dramatic activity,” Secretary Ross added. “But he listened to the argument that the rest of us were making and ultimately came down in favor of it.”
Musk and Trump
The addition of his relationship with the world’s richest man, Musk, will be a closely scrutinized element of Trump’s second presidency.
Already, critics are questioning whether Musk—who wields a great level of political and personal power—is something of a pseudo-President and how that influence might affect the man sitting in the Oval Office.
Let’s not forget that Trump and Musk haven’t always enjoyed a cozy relationship.
The Republican politician previously referred to the Tesla CEO as “another bullshit artist,” insisting in 2022 that Musk would never buy Twitter. Musk responded directly to a clip of Trump, saying: “It’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset.”
He also urged Democrats to stop attacking Trump, adding: “Don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.”
I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022
Dems should also call off the attack – don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.
While it may not be such a stretch to question whether the Musk-Trump truce may flip again, the President-elect has said speculation about Musk’s power over the White House is a “hoax” drummed up by rivals.
“No, he’s [Musk] not taking the presidency,” Trump said in December.
“Anytime you have two really intelligent people with really big personalities interacting, the potential for friction is obviously considerable,” Secretary Ross began. “So far, both sides seem very well to recognize the fundamental truth [of] a remark that Trump made when asked about Musk as co-president.
“Trump said [Musk] is foreign-born and therefore knows he never could be president.”
Secretary Ross added that the statement was “very wise ” because “let’s pretend some other political leader was in the role of Musk and was taking as many strong opinions on as many different topics as Musk.
“There always would have been the potential for that person to challenge Trump in terms of politics. There is not that potential with Musk.”
A more confident Trump
For those who watched Trump defiantly raise his fist to the skies after an assassination attempt on the campaign trail, it’s hard to imagine the President-elect getting any more confident.
Yet Secretary Ross said that’s precisely what voters can expect on account of the fact this isn’t Trump’s first rodeo, and he has the luxury of a House of Representatives and Senate tipped towards the Republicans.
“I think [Trump] feels very much more confident even in his decisions than he was back then,” explained Secretary Ross.
“Back then, there were a lot of Republicans in the Congress, particularly in the Senate, who were free trade people. Many of those have now retired and been replaced by people who are very much America First people.”
He continued Trump is also returning to a role he now has experience in, explaining: “The first time [Trump] did not come to office with a large cadre of people whom he had worked with politically for years and years. He was a newcomer, as were most of us.
“Now, he understands a lot better how Congress works, how how administrations work. His knowledge base is better.
Moreover, “he’s met with many of the people who still are world leaders, and therefore, he has a better ability to size them up than he did before.”
Most importantly, Secretary Ross adds: “No president, to my knowledge, has ever announced so many high appointments so far before even inauguration. And therefore, he will hit the ground—not just with a slim majority in both the House and the Senate—but he will hit the ground with his people very rapidly in place.”
