Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent engaged in a heated shouting match at the White House last week near President Donald Trump and top officials, according to a report Wednesday.
“It was two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,” an anonymous witness told Axios about the confrontation, which erupted Thursday about who would lead the US tax agency — the IRS.
The “loud” spat reportedly began in the Oval Office and escalated into the hallway.
Tensions flared April 16 after Trump appointed Musk’s pick, Gary Shapley, as acting IRS commissioner — a position Bessent had wanted for his deputy, Michael Faulkender, Axios reported.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt played down the incident as “a normal part of any healthy policy process.”
“And ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump,” Axios quoted her as saying.