SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
By David Millward
Elon Musk and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent are alleged to have had a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)-style shouting match in the White House.
The fracas, reported by American news website Axios, was said to have been witnessed by US President Donald Trump.
The falling-out was spectacular, according to White House insiders, with an aide at one point stepping in between the two men.
Elon Musk allegedly dismissed the Treasury secretary as a “Soros agent”.Credit: Bloomberg
“It was two billionaires, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,” one witness said.
“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.
Obscenities were apparently hurled as Bessent ridiculed the department of government efficiency’s work and Musk dismissed the Treasury secretary as a “Soros agent”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt played down the row.
“It’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country,” she said.
Last week, The New York Times reported Bessent was incensed by Musk’s efforts to install Gary Shapley as the Internal Revenue Service acting commissioner.
Previously, Shapley was best known as the IRS whistleblower who claimed the service had given Hunter Biden favourable tax treatment.
Scott Bessent reportedly ridiculed the department of government efficiency’s work.Credit: Bloomberg
Despite Shapley’s popularity in conservative circles, he was not welcomed by Bessent, who persuaded Trump to rescind the appointment and accused Musk of going behind his back.
Bessent’s anger was out of character, his allies said, according to Axios.
“Scott can’t stand Musk. That goes pretty deep and pretty far back. But he’s acting like a grown-up about it,” one ally of Bessent said.
“What surprises a lot of people is Scott is so mild-mannered. But he has his limits, and he can roar.”
It is not the first time Musk has butted heads with members of Trump’s cabinet.
London’s The Telegraph previously revealed how the Tesla boss was branded a “liar” in a fiery exchange with transportation secretary Sean Duffy and veterans affairs secretary Doug Collins.
The argument, in March, had erupted over DOGE cuts to the men’s respective departments. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also said to have aired grievances at the time.
Trump is understood to have also witnessed the previous argument.
The Tesla boss this month became embroiled in a public spat with Trump’s tariffs guru. Taking to his social media site, X, Musk described Peter Navarro as “dumber than a sack of bricks” and “truly a moron”.
The row had erupted after Navarro described the DOGE boss as a “car assembler”. At the time, Leavitt said of the fallout, “boys will be boys”.
