White House Feud Erupts as Elon Musk Gets Into WWE-Style 'Shouting Match' With Mild-Mannered Cabinet Secretary
Elon Musk and Scott Bessent had a spectacular falling out, with onlookers saying it was 'middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing'.
April 24 2025, Published 1:25 p.m. ET
Elon Musk has sparked a fresh feud with mild-mannered Cabinet Secretary Scott Bessent, which has rocked the White House.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the Tesla owner had a WWE-style shouting match with his new rival within the halls of the President's House.
Tesla founder Musk has form for clashing with senior figures within U.S. politics.
And the row — about the IRS — got so heated, the pair got into each other's faces within earshot of President Trump.
A source sad: "It was two billionaires, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing.
"They were not physical in the Oval, but the president saw it, and then they carried it down the hall, and that's when they did it again."
A separate source close to the situation added the fight was fundamentally about the different visions the two men have for reform, with Musk, 53, taking a more aggressive approach.
Mild-mannered Bessent is an unlikely target for Musk, but he stood firm against the world's richest man.
The insider explained: "Bessent has two mandates: reform and stabilize.
"Elon has one mandate: break things in the process of reform."
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was also present for the conversation and seemed to take Musk's side.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response: "It's no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country."
She added: "Disagreements are a normal part of any healthy policy process.
"And ultimately everyone knows they serve at the pleasure of President Trump."
Last week, it was reported Bessent, 63, was incensed by Musk's efforts to install Gary Shapley as the Internal Revenue Service acting commissioner.
Bessant has a deep hatred of Musk, according to his close allies.
Previously, Shapley was best known as the IRS whistleblower who claimed the service had given Hunter Biden favorable tax treatment.
Despite Shapley’s popularity in conservative circles, he was not welcomed by Bessent, who persuaded Trump to rescind the appointment and accused Musk of going behind his back.
Bessent's anger was out of character, his allies have said.
One said: "Scott can't stand Musk. That goes pretty deep and pretty far back. But he's acting like a grown-up about it."
Musk has a history of public disputes with top-level Trump administration members.
He was publicly vying on X for Lutnick to be Treasury secretary — arguing that he "will actually enact change" — but Trump went for Bessent instead.
Musk wrote in November: "Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas (Howard Lutnick) will actually enact change.
"Business as usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change."
Musk also got into an X feud with senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro, calling him a "moron".
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Musk previously got into an X feud with Peter Navarro, calling him a 'moron'.
"Navarro is truly a moron. What he says here is demonstrably false," Musk wrote on X, in response to Navarro calling Tesla a "car assembler."
"Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks."
Musk will pull back his presence at the end of May as his appointment as a special government employee comes to a close.
But he said he will still be open to contributing a day or two a week to DOGE-related matters.
