Report: Musk Got Physical With Treasury’s Bessent At White House
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Sunday downplayed reports that Elon Musk “body-checked” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a heated exchange, describing the encounter instead as a “robust disagreement.”
Speaking on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Leavitt admitted she wasn’t present for the April confrontation but said she wouldn’t characterize it as a “fistfight,” despite second-hand accounts that claimed Musk had slammed into Bessent’s rib cage “like a rugby player.”
“I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a fistfight, Maria,” Leavitt told host Maria Bartiromo after the journalist characterized it that way. “It was definitely a disagreement, although I was not there. I didn’t witness it with my own eyes.
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“When this story originally broke, I said from the podium that there have definitely been healthy disagreements amongst the cabinet and Elon Musk,” Leavitt added.
“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,” she said.
“We have moved on from that,” Leavitt continued, per the New York Post. “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.”
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After Musk publicly lashed out last week over the legislation and turned on former ally President Trump, presidential confidant Steve Bannon revealed that the billionaire had clashed with the Treasury secretary two months earlier.
“Scott said [to Musk], ‘You’re a fraud. You’re a total fraud,’ ” Bannon recounted to the Washington Post before claiming that Musk then rammed into Bessent’s rib cage “like a rugby player.”
He went on to say that multiple people in the same room at the time pulled the two men apart.
“President Trump heard about it and said, ‘This is too much,’” Bannon told the WaPo.
Neither Musk nor Bessent has commented publicly on the allegations. Previously, The New York Times reported that the men got into a shouting match during the same April meeting.
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During the meeting, both Musk and Bessent presented competing candidates to lead the Internal Revenue Service, with Trump ultimately siding with Bessent’s recommendation, The Post reported.
Musk had previously endorsed then-Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to lead the Treasury Department instead of Bessent. However, Trump later appointed Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce.
On the same day as the April meeting, Bessent reportedly took a jab at Musk for failing to meet his ambitious goal of cutting $1 trillion in government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, The Post added.
After Musk’s blow-up last week, he appears to be attempting a rapprochement with Trump.
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Politico reported exclusively on Sunday that aides for both Trump and Musk have been speaking behind the scenes as a means of attempting to resolve the spat.
“The shaky detente in the social media strife between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk is holding following a call between representatives for both sides Friday, according to two White House officials,” the outlet reported.
“He’s stopped posting, but that doesn’t mean he’s happy,” one of the officials told the outlet about Trump not posting about Musk on his Truth Social platform. “The future of their relationship is totally uncertain.”
Musk’s estranged father, Errol Musk, has also offered some unsolicited advice as his son navigates a heated falling-out with Trump.
Errol said he had sent a message to Elon, urging him to mend the situation, but expressed confidence to reporters that the two would reconcile soon, The Daily Beast reported.
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“I did send him a message… telling him, make sure this fizzles out,” he told Al Arabiya English on Friday, adding the pair would “of course” reconcile.
