--- title: Trump in Saudi Arabia: Wilbur Ross Says 'No Hint' of Protest description: Commerce Secretary praised the lack of protest in Saudi Arabia, where political dissent is punished canonical: https://time.com/4788282/wilbur-ross-saudi-arabia-protests/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-22T15:09:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:03:03.790Z article:section: Politics og:title: Wilbur Ross Praised the Lack of Protests in Saudi Arabia. Protesters There Face Severe Punishments og:description: "Not one guy with a bad placard." og:url: https://time.com/4788282/wilbur-ross-saudi-arabia-protests/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4d66a9e2dfd114f/6988ce498fd2eedae335728b/gettyimages-681033038.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Speaks At Washington Conference On The Americas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Wilbur Ross Praised the Lack of Protests in Saudi Arabia. Protesters There Face Severe Punishments twitter:description: "Not one guy with a bad placard." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd4d66a9e2dfd114f/6988ce498fd2eedae335728b/gettyimages-681033038.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Wilbur Ross Praised the Lack of Protests in Saudi Arabia. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6d05c2e8-621b-427a-b080-2fefbc9744fa&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 22, 2017 3:09 PM UTC  Wilbur Ross, U.S. commerce secretary, speaks during the 47th annual Washington Conference on the Americas at the U.S Department of State in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017\. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images Wilbur Ross, U.S. commerce secretary, speaks during the 47th annual Washington Conference on the Americas at the U.S Department of State in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, May 9, 2017\. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 22, 2017 3:09 PM UTC Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross praised the lack of protests President Trump faced during his trip to Saudi Arabia over the weekend, failing to note that dissent in the country is severely punished. In an [interview with _CNBC_ on Monday](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/commerces-wilbur-ross-sees-a-big-sea-change-in-saudi-arabia-regarding-women-in-business.html), Ross said there is “no question” that the Middle Eastern nation is “liberalizing their society,” noting there the involvement of women in some of their panel discussions. Ross also said there were no protesters in the streets during the President’s visit. “There was not a single hint of a protester anywhere there during the whole time that we were there. Not one guy with a bad placard.” The [CNBC](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/commerces-wilbur-ross-sees-a-big-sea-change-in-saudi-arabia-regarding-women-in-business.html) host pointed out that there likely weren’t any protesters in Saudi Arabia because citizen can face severe punishment for broadcasting their dissent. [Human Rights Watch has](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/saudi-arabia) noted that over a dozen activists were imprisoned and facing lengthy sentences as of 2015\. In January 2015, Human Rights Watch notes, at least one writer was publicly lashed for setting up a liberal website. Citizens in the country have also faced [death sentences](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-behead-disabled-protester-executions-reprieve-amnesty-a7396906.html) for participating in demonstrations. In response to the _CNBC_ host’s point of reference, Ross maintained that there was a “genuinely good mood” in Saudi Arabia during the White House trip. “In theory, that could be true but, boy, there was certainly no sign of it. There was not a single effort at any incursion. There wasn’t anything. The mood was a genuinely good mood.” At the end of the trip, Ross said, Saudi security guards gifted him and others with two bushels of dates. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4788282/wilbur-ross-saudi-arabia-protests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4788282/wilbur-ross-saudi-arabia-protests/"},"headline":"Wilbur Ross Praised the Lack of Protests in Saudi Arabia. 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