After the high-voltage drama between US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, shocking details have emerged about physical altercation between Tesla CEO Musk and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent inside the White House.
The confrontation that is reported to have taken place in mid-April over preferred candidate to head the Internal Revenue Service in the Oval Office.
According to The Washington Post, which cited Trump ally Steve Bannon, Musk rammed his shoulder into Bessent's rib cage "like a rugby player".
As they walked down the hallway after exiting the meeting, tensions reportedly escalated when Bessent mocked Musk over his unkept promise to expose more than $1 trillion in government waste and fraud an insult that may have sparked the physical confrontation, according to Bannon’s account to the Washington Post.
Scott allegedly told Musk, "You're a fraud. You're a total fraud".
"Musk then rammed his shoulder into Bessent's rib cage 'like a rugby player,' Bannon said, and Bessent hit him back," according to the report.
"Multiple people stepped in to break up the scrum as the two men reached the national security adviser's office, and Musk was shuffled out of the West Wing."
Bannon further revealed that when President Trump heard about the incident he said, "This is too much."
Last month, Bannon told the Daily Mail that the dispute began when Bessent confronted Musk over his failure to deliver on promised major federal spending cuts tied to DOGE.
“Scott Bessent called him out and said, ‘You promised us a trillion dollars (in cuts), and now you’re at like $100 billion, and nobody can find anything, what are you doing?’” Bannon told Daily Mail. “And that’s when Elon got physical. It’s a sore subject with him.”
“It wasn’t an argument, it was a physical confrontation. Elon basically shoved him,” Bannon added.
At his final press conference alongside President Trump, following his resignation as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk appeared with a black and bruised eye an injury he attributed to his son.
However, as details of the Musk-Bessent altercation surfaced, reports suggest it was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who gave Musk the black eye during their confrontation at the White House.
Tensions flared between tech billionaire Elon Musk and President Trump over the latter’s "one big beautiful bill," with Trump expressing he was "very disappointed" by Musk’s criticism prompting a swift response from Musk on social media.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
