Wilbur Ross: Reports of Trump criticism 'obsolete'

"He has 100% confidence in Secretary Ross," Sanders said. "He loves Wilbur, thinks he is doing a great job and has been a strong advocate for this administration."

A White House official said Trump was unhappy with Ross last summer and that it stemmed primarily from the fact that the trade moves he had promised to make quickly were taking time and were tied up with legal or regulatory questions.

"He's in a good place with the President," the official told CNN.

A Hill source told CNN there is talk of Ross having "fallen out of favor with the White House."

"That could explain why embarrassing stories such as this are now appearing," the source said, referencing the Axios report.

The report comes on the heels of a potentially embarrassing Page Six item about Ross' security losing him in the Hamptons last month.

Keith Davis, the owner of the Golden Pear cafe in Southhampton, said Ross' security detail entered his cafe one morning in early December and asked the manager, "Have you seen Wilbur Ross today? Has he been in for breakfast?"

Davis said that when he heard later about the detail's visit, he called them and was told, "Everything is fine. We actually found him shortly after we left the cafe."

Nancy Rivera, the manager of the Golden Pear, confirmed in a separate conversation with CNN that Ross's security detail came in and said they had lost the Commerce secretary one morning in December.

"A large gentleman walked in, and he gave me his card, and the card had an official seal on it, and he asked me if I'd seen Wilbur Ross," Rivera said. "I had not seen him that day so I told him that, and then he just asked me -- he didn't give too much information -- but he did say, which I was surprised by, that he was on Wilbur Ross' security detail and they were looking for him. They couldn't find him."

The security detail asked Rivera to hold on to his card and call him "immediately" if she saw Ross, she said.

"He looked concerned," Rivera said. "I was surprised that somebody with that kind of clearance would tell me, 'We lost him.' "

Rivera said she supposed the detail was popping into Ross' local haunts and that the uber-wealthy Commerce secretary usually comes into the Golden Pear to get a coffee -- sometimes a latte -- and a copy of The New York Times.

The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and an automatic reply by email said only a very limited number of public affairs staff would be working during the government shutdown.

While Ross has been less in the public eye recently than he had in the beginning of Trump's tenure, a senior administration official offered that major issues for Ross, like trade, "aren't dominant right now" compared to other key issues of the day like tax reform, immigration, foreign policy and the recent government shutdown.

"But that doesn't mean he's not doing his job," the official said.

As with most personnel intrigue stories that come out of this White House, this official also cautioned that it is important to distinguish between what Trump himself is really thinking and what his staff might be trying to circulate and plant with the press.

But the potential distance from his commerce secretary may not mean Trump intends to oust Ross. A source close to the White House who speaks regularly with Trump said there was no indication yet that Ross was about to lose his job.

"I don't think he's on (the) chopping block yet," the source said.

The Axios report said Trump had unloaded on Ross during meetings about six months into his presidency and told Ross he didn't trust him to negotiate.

A source recounted to Axios that Trump told Ross: "Your understanding of trade is terrible. Your deals are no good. No good."