Scott Bessent addresses explosive ‘WWE' clash with Elon Musk in West Wing - and if he gave him a black eye

Yahoo

a day ago

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has addressed reports that he had an explosive argument with Elon Musk in the West Wing earlier this year — and responded to rumors that he gave a black eye to the world's richest man.
Bessent clashed with Musk in April over choices for next acting leader of the Internal Revenue Service, according to The Atlantic and subsequent media reports. The pair reportedly traded jabs and fired off expletives near the Oval Office. One witness described the fight as 'two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,' Axios reports.
MAGA ally Stephen Bannon even told The Washington Post the pair exchanged blows. Musk rammed his shoulder into Bessent's rib cage 'like a rugby player,' and Bessent hit him back, Bannon recounted. Multiple people then intervened to break up the fight, the Post reported. Weeks later, Musk arrived at the White House with a black eye.
Bessent, in a lengthy interview with Bloomberg published Monday, addressed what had happened with Musk but offered few details. He did, however, confirm he didn't give the SpaceX founder a black eye.
'I can 100 percent say I did not give him the black eye,' Bessent said.
Musk told reporters he got the black eye from 'horsing around' with his five-year-old son, 'Lil X.' He offered the explanation at a May press conference that marked the end of his tenure as a special government employee leading the Department of Government Efficiency.
'I said go ahead and punch me in the face and he did,' the billionaire said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed reports that the altercation turned physical in June, explaining she wouldn't have described it as a 'fistfight.'
'It was definitely a disagreement...we've moved on from it,' she said.
The April incident began after Musk and Bessent made their respective cases to Trump about who should be the new acting IRS commissioner, the Post reported. Trump ultimately sided with Bessent's choice.
After the discussion, Musk and Bessent walked into a hallway outside the Oval Office and started exchanging insults, according to the Post. Bessent then brought up that Musk, as the leader of DOGE, had not been successful in carrying out his promise to cut $1 trillion in government spending.
'Scott said, 'You're a fraud. You're a total fraud,'' Bannon told the Post.
The fight then turned physical as the pair approached the national security office, and after witnesses intervened, Musk was shuffled out of the West Wing, according to the Post.
'President Trump heard about it and said, 'This is too much,'' Bannon added.
Bessent, a 62-year-old from South Carolina, was confirmed as Trump's treasury secretary in January after working for years as a top hedge fund manager. Bessent's father was the founder of a real estate firm, and his prominent family can trace its roots back to 17th century French Huguenots, Bloomberg reports.
The treasury secretary previously addressed the clash in June, telling the Pod Force One podcast that he and Musk share a similar goal despite their differences.
'We have had disagreements, but we both want to get to the same place,' Bessent said. 'We both want to eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse in government.'
'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 added. 'I think Elon probably fancies himself more of a Viking. I think I'm more of a ninja.'