White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has shut down rumors of a physical altercation that allegedly took place between Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Trump’s former political adviser Steve Bannon claims that Musk body checked Bessent “like a rugby player” during an incident in the White House in mid-April. According to Bannon, Bessent hit the tech billionaire back and the pair had to be broken up by multiple people before Musk was taken out of the West Wing.
Fox News presenter Maria Bartiromo quizzed Leavitt about the reported clash on Sunday. “Did Musk actually get physical? Was there a fistfight that he body checked the treasury secretary?” she asked.
“I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a fistfight, Maria,” the press secretary replied. “It was definitely a disagreement […] we’ve moved on from it,” said Leavitt, after sharing that there were several occasions where the cabinet and Musk would “get frustrated with one another.”
Both men had been inside the Oval Office making their cases for who should be selected as Internal Revenue Service commissioner, The Washington Post reports.
However, things took a nasty turn when Trump opted for Bessent’s choice, and the pair began firing off a round of insults as they departed the Oval Office.
According to The Post, Bessent teased Musk over his claims that he would uncover over $1 trillion in wasteful government spending – a goal which Musk had not managed.
“Scott said, ‘You’re a fraud. You’re a total fraud,’” Bannon said in an interview.
Musk, who has been facing allegations of ketamine use during his time in Washington, then slammed his shoulder into Bessent’s rib cage before the trade secretary retaliated, Bannon told The Post.
“President Trump heard about it and said, ‘This is too much,’” Bannon claimed.
News of the scuffle broke Sunday following the firestorm between the Tesla billionaire and Trump, who said he had “no intention” of speaking to Musk following their X spat over the “Big Beautiful Bill” up for debate in Congress.
“I’m too busy doing other things,” Trump told NBC News on Saturday. “I have no intention of speaking to him.”
“I think it’s a very bad thing, because he’s very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the president,” he added.
