Elon Musk has a heated 'WWE-style' argument with Trump official, White House calls it 'healthy debate'
WASHINGTON, DC: In the hushed halls of the West Wing, two of President Donald Trump’s advisors—Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and tech mogul Elon Musk engaged in a full-on shouting match that had staffers doing double-takes.
According to Axios’s Marc Caputo, “the F bombs started to fly,” and suddenly it felt less like a White House corridor and more like a WWE smackdown.
“It was two billionaire-middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,” one stunned witness told reporters. Thankfully, fists never flew, but the verbal volley made it clear that there’s some serious power jostling going on at the top, Mediaite reported.
A scene louder than the stock market
According to sources, if you thought the New York Stock Exchange floor was loud, you should have heard the decibels in the hallway. “It was quite a scene. It was loud. And I mean, loud,” another aide confessed.
When tensions were so high, one brave staffer literally stepped between the two titans to keep things from boiling over. The New York Times first broke news that the "clash" centered on who should run the IRS. Musk’s pick was Acting Commissioner Gary Shapley, while Bessent’s preferred was Michael Faulkender.
Musk had quietly recommended Shapley to take the wheel at the IRS. Bessent found out through the grapevine and wasn’t thrilled. Within days, Trump swapped Shapley out for Faulkender, Bessent’s guy.
When reporters pressed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about the situation, she tried to play it cool. “Look, there are disagreements amongst the president’s staff and Cabinet sometimes, but we think that’s part of a healthy debate process,” she said on Wednesday, April 23. “Everybody knows that ultimately President Trump is the decision-maker.”
Scott Bessent 'can't stand' Elon Musk
For those only casually following the saga, Acott Bessent might seem like Mr Nice Guy—but he has a threshold.
"What surprises a lot of people is Scott is so mild-mannered. But he has his limits, and he can roar," a Bessent supporter who was briefed on the argument revealed.
In fact, the same source said Bessent “can’t stand” Musk. "That goes pretty deep and pretty far back. But he's acting like a grown-up about it," they added.
All this unfolded during a roller-coaster week of tariff announcements and stock-market whipsawing.
Bessent quietly played peacemaker through it all, helping steady the administration’s trade messaging and soothing investors on edge.
Elon Musk’s exit strategy amid Tesla's sales disaster
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has already signaled he’s planning to dial back White House advising duties.
On Tuesday’s earnings call, Musk tried to reassure everyone. “Starting probably in next month, in May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” he vowed, promising only “one or two days” advising the White House.
Still, he’s not ghosting the administration entirely. Musk said he’ll stick around for “one to two days" a week on government issues throughout Trump’s term. Come May, however, he will be "allocating far more of my time to Tesla."
Investors responded with a collective sigh of relief. Tesla shares—down 41% this year—popped 4% to $247.53 after Musk’s pledge to scale back his DOGE distractions. Yet the carnage in the Q1 earnings report was hard to ignore as revenue tumbled 9% and profit slumped 71%, ABC News reported.
