Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' propensity for falling asleep at meetings is not helping his standing in the eyes of President Trump, who is already frustrated with the 80-year-old over "no good," "terrible" trade deals, Axios reports. "Wilber is good until about 11 a.m.," one former administration official admitted. Politico's Eliana Johnson tweeted that she has heard similarly: A source I had contacted about something more important responded that not only has Wilbur Ross fallen asleep at every meeting he’s been in with source, but that he drools - and uses his tie to clean it up. — Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) January 22, 2018 White House officials rallied to defend Ross, with National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn telling Axios "Secretary Ross remains an important member of the president's economic team" and United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer adding "Secretary Ross and I work together every day." Speaking of the speech, he put wilber Ross to sleep pic.twitter.com/ZZxjAF3e7k — Matt, VP Essential Consultants LLC (@MattM0720) May 21, 2017 Neither confirmed nor denied reports of Ross' sleeping habits.