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Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is downplaying his widely reported clash with billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk, the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Speaking on the Pod Force One podcast, Bessent attributed the friction between him and the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to stylistic differences.
Describing himself as more nimble and like a ninja, he remarked that Musk, on the other hand, “fancies himself more of a Viking,” following Silicon Valley’s model of “move quickly and break things.”
Bessent’s effort to minimize reports of a conflict with Musk comes after the former special government employee’s spectacular falling out with President Trump the week after he stepped away from his role in the administration. At the time of his departure, Musk voiced his anger at the potential impact of the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” on the national debt.
Reports of Musk butting heads with Cabinet members over his dramatic cuts to government departments have persisted since early in the administration, with the biggest clash being a fiery shouting match with Bessent back in April.
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MAGA podcaster Steve Bannon claimed the confrontation, which took places after the pair had left the Oval Office, had become physical with Musk body-checking Bessent “like a rugby player.”
The Treasury secretary has not confirmed the story.
“We have had disagreements, but we both want to get to the same place,” Bessent told Miranda Devine, host of the podcast and a columnist for The New York Post.
“The Silicon Valley mode of operation is move quickly and break things. I always say here at Treasury we move deliberately and fix things.”
He continued: “I think Elon’s probably fancies himself more of a Viking. I think I’m more of a ninja.”
The heated argument between Musk and Bessent is reported to have occurred on April 16 after the DOGE head circumvented the Treasury boss to have Trump appoint former IRS agent Gary Shapley, who leaked details about former President Joe Biden’s son’s taxes, as a temporary commissioner atop the tax-collecting agency.
Bessent, whose department includes the IRS, had wanted his deputy, Michael Faulkender, to act as the interim commissioner while awaiting the confirmation of former Missouri Congressman Billy Long for the position.
The argument blew up between the two wealthy Trump officials in the West Wing, at which point “F bombs started to fly” as the normally mild-mannered Bessent aggressively confronted Musk, repeatedly shouting “F*** you!” within earshot of the Oval Office, The Atlantic reported.
One witness said it was “quite a scene” and “loud,” while a third described the blow-up as “two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing.”
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According to Axios, Bessent threw barbs at Musk regarding the lackluster nature of the alleged savings uncovered by his DOGE cost-cutting effort.
In response, Musk claimed the extremely successful investor who created the Key Square Group investment fund after a career with Soros Fund Management, was a “Soros agent” — a reference to a widespread antisemitic conspiracy theory that posits investor and Democratic Party donor George Soros is a shadowy puppet master controlling much of the American political left.
The shouting between the two men became so heated that White House aides reportedly had to separate them.
“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,” said one witness who spoke to Axios.
One source familiar with the dispute between Musk and Bessent told The Independent that there is no love lost between the two men, dating back to when Musk unsuccessfully lobbied for Trump to appoint Howard Lutnick, former CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, to the Treasury role.
Trump, a longtime friend of Lutnick’s, later appointed him to run the Department of Commerce after shrugging off Musk’s lobbying efforts, instead choosing Bessent to run the Treasury Department.
The White House did not deny that the blow-up occurred. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement in which she said it was “no secret” that Trump “has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country.”
With additional reporting by Andrew Feinberg in Washington, D.C.
