Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wore custom $600 slippers to Trump's big speech


There's no reason you can't make a statement through what you wear to a presidential address to a joint session of Congress. The female Democrats in Congress, for example, showed up wearing white on Tuesday night to commemorate the suffragettes, or early 20th century women's rights and voting advocates, and to make a fashionable stand for women's rights under President Trump. Other lawmakers wore blue ribbons to support the ACLU. It's not clear what statement Wilbur Ross, Trump's brand new commerce secretary, was trying to make with his choice of footwear, but a good guess would be "I'm a 79-year-old billionaire and I don't care what you think," mixed with a dash of professional pride.
These weren't just any off-the-shelf black slippers, though. As The Huffington Post's Christina Wilkie notes, they have the Commerce Department logo emblazoned on the top — pretty impressive, given that he wasn't confirmed until Monday night — and they appear to be quite costly:
Slippers aren't necessarily inappropriate footwear for a speech that ended after 10 p.m., it should be noted, especially if you've been eligible for Medicare for 14 years.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Illicit mercury is poisoning the Amazon
Under the Radar 'Essential' to illegal gold mining, toxic mercury is being trafficked across Latin America, 'fuelling violence' and 'environmental devastation'
-
Israel faces international anger as Gazans starve
Feature World leaders pressure Israel to let in aid as famine spreads across Gaza
-
Redistricting: How the GOP could win in 2026
Feature Trump pushes early redistricting in Texas to help Republicans keep control of the House in next year's elections
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement