President Trump may have been “exhausted” when he spoke in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, but Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was really knocked out as video shows him nodding off during the 36-minute speech.
Ross, 79, was seen catching a nap during the president’s speech Sunday in Riyadh to Saudi officials on the need to come together to battle terrorism.
White House officials said Trump, 70, was “exhausted” when he veered off script and used the term “Islamic terror” in the speech. The Trump administration had planned not to use the kind of highly charged rhetoric the president used during the 2016 election.
His prepared remarks took a softer tone, referring instead to “Islamist extremism.”
Ross, a billionaire investor, was more energetic on Saturday when he, Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson participated in a ceremonial sword dance performed as part of the welcoming ceremonies in the kingdom.
The three swayed along with the music, swords perched on their shoulders, during the performance outside the Murabba Palace.
Ross is part of the entourage accompanying Trump on his visit to the Middle East along with first lady Melania Trump, the president’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.