Elon Musk reportedly got into a shouting match with a Cabinet member in earshot of President Donald Trump, seemingly signaling another turn south in the billionaires’ relationship.
Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had an intense argument in the White House over the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) last week, two witnesses and three sources told Axios.
‘It was two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,’ a witness told the news outlet on Wednesday.
‘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 witness was referring to Musk and Bessent, who is worth $520million, not one billion.
A second witness said: ‘It was quite a scene. It was loud. And I mean, loud.’
The details emerged days after The New York Times reported on Friday that Musk and Bessent fought over who would lead the IRS. The WWE-style argument apparently happened the day before.
Asked about the Thursday incident, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated remarks she had made to The Times.
‘It’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country,’ stated Leavitt.
‘Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process, and ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump.’
It happened two days after Trump reportedly dropped the F-bomb in ordering his staff to make sure Musk did not attend a highly classified meeting on China.
‘What the f*** is Elon doing there? Make sure he doesn’t go,’ Trump told a staff member on Tuesday, according to Axios.
A government official reportedly told the outlet, ‘POTUS still very much loves Elon, but there are some red lines.’
Trump and Musk’s relationship has recently been rocky compared to the very beginning of the president’s second term, when he praised the Tesla CEO for his work heading up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk has already said he will scale back on his work for the Trump administration and spend more time overseeing Tesla starting in May.
Bessent and Musk have not seen eye-to-eye since the start. Musk had urged Trump to choose Howard Lutnick as Treasury Secretary, but Trump picked Bessent. Musk and Bessent have disagreed over hires for the Treasury department.
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