Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 5/29/18

When Trump tapped investor Wilbur Ross to join his administration, he was seen as an aggressive negotiator who would be an influential protectionist voice. But in recent months, the Commerce secretary has been increasingly sidelined, with his agency widely regarded in the White House as a mess, POLITICO's Nancy Cook reports.

Trump's beef with Ross: Trump has lashed out at Ross in Oval Office meetings, telling him that he's "past his prime" and "no longer a killer." The president has also been trying to bench him from making trade deals, according to three people familiar with the comments.

Ross hurt himself politically when he brought back to the president a deal that would have allowed imported cooked chicken from China in exchange for opening up the Chinese market to U.S. beef. During an Oval Office meeting, Ross tried to cast it as a big win, but Trump found it to be too small and regarded it as a bad agreement -- an original sin in the White House. That was the start of Ross' marginalization, even if the president still likes him personally.

China on the mind: But Ross has a chance to regain his status as he heads back to China June 2-4 in hopes of cutting some type of trade deal that'll deliver on Trump's campaign promises to extract concessions from Beijing on behalf of American workers.

One senior administration official noted that Ross remains invaluable to Trump because of his deep familiarity with China after he conducted several deals in the country as an investor. However, others say Ross taking the lead this time around is a dim sign for a big breakthrough.

"The fact that he is going over to China is a signal that the president has some confidence in him," said one former administration official. "But it's also a signal that they are not expecting a whole lot. You would not send him if you were expecting real progress."