Top White House adviser Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly engaged in a fiery argument about the IRS while in the halls of the West Wing that witnesses compared to a professional wrestling match.
Sources told Axios that Bessent and Musk strongly disagreed last week over who should lead the IRS, former acting Commissioner Gary Shapley or Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender, at an April 17 meeting in the Oval Office.
Bessent also reportedly criticized Musk for overpromising and underdelivering on the amount his Department of Government Efficiency would cut from the federal budget and Musk reportedly hit Bessent as an ''agent'' of George Soros and said he ran ''a failed hedge fund'' before joining President Donald Trump's administration.
"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," one person who witnessed the exchange told Axios, speaking anonymously.
The argument eventually led the two men to go chest to chest while arguing about the issue in a hallway near the Oval Office.
"It was two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,'' they added.
Another witness added: "It was quite a scene. It was loud. And I mean, loud.''
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement when asked about the exchange: "It's no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country.''
She added: "Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process. And ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump."
A source close to Bessent told Axios that the secretary "can't stand" Musk, adding: "That goes pretty deep and pretty far back. But he's acting like a grown-up about it."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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