We reported on a dispute between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and DOGE leader Elon Musk over Gary Shapely getting picked to run the IRS. Ultimately Bessent had Shapely removed and had Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender put in the position.
But now we are learning that the dispute between the two erupted into a very loud shouting match in the White House, with F-bombs flying left and right.
Here’s more from Axios:
Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a heated shouting match in earshot of President Trump and other officials in the White House last week during a dispute about the IRS, two witnesses and three sources briefed on the matter tell Axios.
“It was two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,” one witness said of the argument last Thursday. (Bessent’s net worth is actually $520 million.)
The New York Times first reported Friday that Bessent and Musk had a disagreement over who would lead the IRS. But the chest-to-chest clash between the two men a day earlier has not been reported previously.
“They were not physical in the Oval, but the president saw it, and then they carried it down the hall, and that’s when they did it again,” the first witness said.
Said a second: “It was quite a scene. It was loud. And I mean, loud.”
Asked about the shouting match, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to comments she made to the Times about how “it’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country.”
“Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process,” her statement said. “And ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump.”
Musk and Bessent had a choppy start during the presidential transition. Musk lobbied hard for Howard Lutnick to get the Treasury post. But Trump went with Bessent instead, and picked Lutnick to lead the Commerce Department.
Once Trump became president, Musk and Bessent clashed over Treasury hires.
“It wasn’t a fight about right or wrong. It was about control,” another administration official familiar with the disagreement said.
The latest trouble between Musk and Bessent began brewing on April 16, when Trump named Gary Shapley — Musk’s choice — as acting commissioner of the IRS. Bessent wanted Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender in the position.
Bessent lobbied Trump to install Faulkender and fumed that Musk was causing trouble by going behind his back.
On Thursday, at a meeting in the White House, Bessent confronted Musk and, a source said, “the F bombs started to fly.”
Bessent criticized Musk for overpromising and under-delivering budget cuts with DOGE. Musk clapped back by calling Bessent a “Soros agent” and accusing him of having run “a failed hedge fund.” (Trump has praised Bessent’s financial acumen.)
The argument was so heated that an aide stepped in between the two men to separate them.
That night, Trump loyalist Laura Loomer got in on the action and began torching Bessent on X for allowing an unrelated “Trump hater” into Treasury for a financial literacy event.
“Troubling,” Musk said in a quote-post reply at 11:02 p.m.
But on Friday, Bessent had the last word when the Times reported that Shapley was out and Faulkender was in.
Welp. This clash doesn’t bother me, although I’m sure it was a sight to behold. I’m glad Bessent got the man he wanted in the position though, to be honest. He seems like he’s giving President Trump good advice and so far I’m quite pleased with how he’s running the Treasury.