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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent repeatedly shouted “F*** you!” at Elon Musk during a nasty West Wing brawl that unfolded within earshot of President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, according to a report.
Bessent momentarily became unhinged in the halls of the West Wing, so set off by a goading Musk that he yelled loudly enough for Trump to hear from within the Oval Office, according to an explosive new report in The Atlantic.
The escalating verbal dispute through the West Wing began because Musk had attempted to select Gary Shapley to lead the IRS – without first getting Bessent’s approval.
In response to his profanity-laced outburst, Musk began to taunt Bessent, calling him a “Soros agent” and accusing him of having run “a failed hedge fund.”
“Say it louder,” Musk further taunted Bessent amid his tirade, their faces just inches apart, according to The Atlantic.
While Shapley, a former IRS agent who leaked details about Hunter Biden’s taxes, was out after just three days, the brawl was indicative of other issues ushered in by the DOGE-chief.
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Musk arrived in Washington, D.C. with grand plans to eliminate $2 trillion in government spending, but was met with court challenges, and many of his DOGE cuts were reversed. More recently, he admitted his efforts to cut taxpayer spending had proven to be “really, really difficult,” according to the report.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Trump’s cabinet members were growing tired of Musk’s meddling.
One Trump advisor told The Atlantic, “How many people were fired because they didn’t send in their three things a week or whatever the f*** it was?”
“I think that everyone is ready to move on from this part of the administration,” the source added.
Tensions hit a boiling point during a March cabinet meeting, when Trump demanded everyone “have at it,” according to the report.
Details of the intense meeting, including Musk’s heated spats with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, immediately leaked to the press.
While Musk expected an ambush, he was reportedly unaware just how fed up the cabinet was with him, according to the report.
At that point, he insisted his problem wasn’t firing people, but not being able to hire “better” ones quickly enough, according to the report.
The cabinet dispute also saw Rubio intensely push back against Musk in a moment that reportedly changed Trump’s opinion.
“That was one of the turning points for Trump and Marco, where Trump realized Marco had a little spine,” a Trump ally told The Atlantic.
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Soon after, The New York Times reported that Musk was supposed to receive a secret briefing from the Pentagon on the country’s planning for a potential war with China.
After the story was published, Trump posted on social media that Musk’s trip to the Pentagon would not include any China briefing. Even as Trump attempted to soften the report’s blow, it still prompted public outrage.
“You could feel it, everything changed, the fever had been broken,” longtime Musk critic Steve Bannon told The Atlantic, noting that it seemed the government was more willing to leak to the Times than directly confront Musk.
Musk’s spat with Bessent, first reported in Axios earlier this year, was previously described by witnesses as being “quite a scene” and “loud.”
A third witness said it was “two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing.”
At the time, the White House did not deny the two got into a heated verbal argument, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issuing a statement saying it was “no secret” 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, and ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump,” Leavitt added.
