logo
WH press secretary brushes off reports Musk ‘body-checked' Treasury chief: ‘Robust disagreement'

WH press secretary brushes off reports Musk ‘body-checked' Treasury chief: ‘Robust disagreement'

New York Posta day ago

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Sunday downplayed reports Elon Musk 'body-checked'' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a heated meeting, calling their dispute simply a 'robust disagreement.''
Leavitt acknowledged to Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures' that she wasn't in the room when the April dust-up took place but contended she wouldn't call it a 'fistfight' based on what she heard second-hand about the scrum — which supposedly included Musk ramming into Bessent's rib cage 'like a rugby player.'
'I certainly wouldn't describe it as a fistfight, Maria,' Leavitt told host Maria Baritomo after the journalist characterized it as such. 'It was definitely a disagreement, although I was not there. I didn't witness it with my own eyes.
Advertisement
'When this story originally broke, I said from the podium that there have definitely been healthy disagreements amongst the cabinet and Elon Musk,' Leavitt said.
3 White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Sunday downplayed reports of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Elon Musk coming to blows.
Getty Images
'There were times in which they got frustrated with one another, but I think that really speaks to the heart of this Cabinet and the president's team, that they can have these robust disagreements and then still come together to do what's right for the people they are serving.
Advertisement
'We have moved on from that,' Leavitt said. 'The president has moved on from it.
'And the entire administration is focusing on passing this bill,' she added of the proposed sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 'Cutting waste, fraud and abuse from our government remains a critical component of this administration's agenda.'
After Musk publicly went nuclear over the bill — and onetime ally President Trump — last week, presidential buddy Steve Bannon claimed the world's richest man had scrapped with the Treasury secretary two months ago.
3 Musk exploded at President Trump publicly last week amid a series of frustrations, including over the deficit.
AP
Advertisement
'Scott said [to Musk], 'You're a fraud. You're a total fraud,' ' Bannon told the Washington Post, recalling how Musk then rammed into Bessent's rib cage 'like a rugby player.'
Eventually, multiple bystanders in the room supposedly intervened and pulled them apart.
'President Trump heard about it and said, 'This is too much,' ' Bannon added.
Bannon, a former top strategist for Trump who hosts the 'War Room' podcast, has publicly called for Musk, a South African native, to be deported and for the president to invoke the Defense Production Act to seize control of his SpaceX company in retaliation for his public broadsides against the president.
Advertisement
Musk has not publicly commented on the alleged altercation, nor has Bessent.
There had been a prior report from the New York Times alleging that the two men got into a shouting match at the same April meeting.
3 Bessent reportedly scolded Musk for overstating the spending cuts he could find with DOGE.
Getty Images
During the meeting, both men had pitched different candidates to lead the Internal Revenue Service. The president ultimately backed Bessent's choice.
Musk had previously publicly backed then-Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to helm the Treasury Department over Bessent. Trump ended up making Lutnick the secretary of the Department of Commerce.
The day of the April meeting, Bessent also allegedly needled Musk for falling far short of his goal of cutting government spending by $1 trillion with the Department of Government Efficiency.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Treasury yields slip as U.S.-China trade talks enter Day 2
Treasury yields slip as U.S.-China trade talks enter Day 2

CNBC

time10 minutes ago

  • CNBC

Treasury yields slip as U.S.-China trade talks enter Day 2

Treasury yields slipped Tuesday as U.S. and Chinese officials resumed trade negotiations in London for the second day. The 10-year Treasury yield was down almost 3 basis points to 4.456% at 3.30 a.m. ET. The 2-year yield slipped around one basis point to 3.993%. The 30-year yield was lower by 3 basis points to 4.921%. One basis point equals 0.01%. Yields and prices move inversely in the bond market. U.S.-China trade negotiations in London resumed on Tuesday, building on a recent call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had talks with Chinese officials. Both sides have intensified diplomatic efforts following weeks of escalating trade tensions and uncertainty sparked by Trump's broad import tariffs on China and other key trading partners in April. "While we await any concrete news, it's worth remembering that markets have been used to a lot of back-and-forth in recent weeks," Deutsche Bank's analysts said, in reference to how U.S. tariffs slapped on China went all the way up to 145%, before being slashed to 30%, among other instances of policy reversals. "There've been several twists and turns already, and markets are getting fairly used to this uncertainty by now," wrote in a note published Tuesday. Deflation in China is also putting pressure on the Chinese government to negotiate a trade deal with Trump that benefits both countries, said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research. China's consumer prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in May, with the CPI falling 0.1% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

'Collateral damage': Fund managers lobby Congress over Section 899 to avert foreign investors leaving the U.S.
'Collateral damage': Fund managers lobby Congress over Section 899 to avert foreign investors leaving the U.S.

CNBC

time10 minutes ago

  • CNBC

'Collateral damage': Fund managers lobby Congress over Section 899 to avert foreign investors leaving the U.S.

American fund managers are lobbying Congress over a provision tucked inside President Donald Trump's tax bill that they say could lead to foreign investors "quickly" pulling investments out of the U.S. The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which passed through the U.S. House of Representatives in May, aims to penalize foreign-owned firms operating in the U.S. and that are from countries with "unfair foreign taxes" under a provision known as Section 899. It is currently being considered by the Senate. The Investment Company Institute (ICI), which represents fund houses in the U.S., is lobbying Congress for an amendment as it warns the bill in its current form also impacts most foreign investments in U.S. stock markets, according to documents seen by CNBC. "In order to avoid the impact of section 899, portfolio investors are likely to retreat quickly from US equities, leading to capital outflows from the United States," the ICI said in a letter sent to Senator Mike Crapo, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, on June 5. "If sustained selling by foreign investors depresses US equity markets, this would harm both US companies and investors." Section 899 aims to introduce retaliatory tax measures against entities from countries that have levies such as the Digital Services Taxes and the OECD's global minimum tax rules. If signed into law, it could impact investors from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland, among others. The tax would start at 5% and escalate by five percentage points annually to a maximum of 20%, on top of existing taxes, which vary by country and tax treaties. That could dent returns for foreign investors in U.S. equities. In the letter, the ICI also suggests that the U.S. fund management industry, which has collectively invested around $18 trillion in U.S. stock markets, would be "collateral damage" due to the impact of Section 899. "We do believe, however, that the current drafting of proposed section 899 should clarify its scope and avoid discouraging foreign investment in US equity markets through 'investment funds' such as US mutual funds and ETFs and their foreign counterparts (e.g., UCITS funds)," the ICI said. The letter to Senators goes on to say, "section 899 would penalize these funds and their shareholders by taxing passive income from US equity investments. To this end, investment funds would be collateral damage to the intended focus of section 899." Funds typically charge fees as a percentage of assets under management, and a withdrawal by foreign investors, over Section 899 concerns, could lead to lower earnings for the investment management firm. The Senate Finance Committee declined to comment, and Senator Mike Crapo's office did not respond to CNBC's request for comment. Foreign investors own $19 trillion in the U.S. stock markets, $7 trillion in U.S. government bonds, and $5 trillion in U.S. credit, according to data compiled by Apollo Global Management. The ICI said it's largely in support of the U.S. government's attempt to "protect US business interests overseas and to address discriminatory foreign taxes." However, it cautions that the current draft of the bill does the opposite. "Some foreign governments may actually cheer this capital flight from the United States because it benefits their local equity markets, which is not the behavioral incentive that Section 899 seeks to achieve," it said. Yuri Khodjamirian, chief investment officer for Tema ETFs, said investors in Europe who are focused on dividend-distributing U.S. companies would be "thinking quite carefully" about their holdings at this stage. "If suddenly you have to pay tax on that income, why would you hold that?" Khodjamirian questioned. Tema ETFs runs the American Reshoring ETF that is available to both U.S. and foreign investors. Tax experts suggest earnings paid out to foreign investors are more likely to be hit by Section 899 than capital gains and other methods of shareholder distributions. The Tema ETFs investment chief cautioned that the impact on the U.S. equities market would be relatively minimal as U.S. companies, say in the S&P 500, are typically not known for their dividends. "In the US, dividend yields are quite low. There's not a lot of companies paying. And most of the capital gets returned to share buybacks," Khodjamirian told CNBC. "Is that actually going to be that big of an issue then?"

Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures tread water ahead of next round of US-China talks
Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures tread water ahead of next round of US-China talks

Yahoo

time20 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures tread water ahead of next round of US-China talks

US stock futures were in a holding pattern on Tuesday ahead of the second day of renewed trade talks between the US and China after an upbeat initial meeting. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), the S&P 500 (ES=F), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) hovered just below the flat line. Stocks edged higher on Monday after Trump officials suggested that trade talks with China in London had been productive. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was a "good meeting," while President Trump cautioned that while "China's not easy," he received "good reports." Representatives for the countries are set to reconvene Tuesday morning in London and are expected to focus negotiations on rare earths and tech. Investors are eager for tensions between the two trading partners to resolve as the risks to economies worldwide remain high. Read more: The latest on Trump's tariffs Meanwhile, investors are counting down to the release of the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on Wednesday. The report will offer fresh insight into the state of inflation amid Trump's evolving trade policy. Analysts expect to see price pressures accelerated last month.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store