White House downplays reported physical clash between Musk and Bessent

The Washington Post reported after speaking with Steve Bannon that Elon Musk aggressively “body-checked” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the White House earlier this year, highlighting flared tensions between the tech billionaire and members of the Trump administration.

The report stated that Musk and Bessent had entered the Oval Office in April to express their preferences for acting IRS commissioner. After Trump sided with Bessent’s choice and the two men exited the Oval Office, they were said to have exchanged insults and, at one point, Musk allegedly rammed his shoulder into Bessent’s ribcage and Bessent hit him back, Bannon said, informing the outlet that the information had been shared with him.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the report on this week’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” telling ‘ Maria Bartiroimo that the incident was less dramatic than many assumed. 

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“I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a fistfight. It was definitely a disagreement,” she shared. “Although I was not there, I didn’t witness it with my own eyes. I heard about it through secondhand reporting. But again, we’ve moved on from that. The president has moved on from it, and the entire administration is focusing on passing this [big beautiful] bill.”

The former DOGE cost-cutter is allegedly discontent over the president pulling the nomination of his ally and longtime Democratic donor Jared Isaacman to run NASA, as well as Trump’s big, beautiful bill, which does not solve the deficit or include subsidies for electric vehicles.

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Scott Bessent, US treasury secretary, during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, US, on Friday, May 23, 2025.  (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg )

The bill caused some contention from Musk and within the GOP, with some lawmakers, including Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., unwilling to vote “yes.” 

Musk lambasted the bill as a “pork-filled,” “disgusting abomination” with a public attack on X last week, writing, “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

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Leavitt cited a previous assertion that “healthy disagreements” have occurred between Trump’s cabinet members and the former DOGE leader, adding that the team was still able to come together for the good of the American people despite the friction.

“You saw when President Trump graciously sent Elon Musk back to his companies, Secretary Bessent was there in the Oval Office, along with Secretary Lutnick and Stephen Miller. I was there, the chief of staff was there, and we were all hoping for the best for Elon,” she said.

The press secretary also sounded off on a recent tweet from ABC News correspondent Terry Moran, who drew ire from the White House on Sunday after tweeting a rant against deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and President Trump in a now-deleted social media post, in which he called them both “world-class” haters. 

“This is, again, coming from someone who is supposed to be an unbiased and professional journalist. This is unacceptable and unhinged rhetoric coming from somebody who works at a major television network,” Leavitt said.

An ABC spokesperson told Digital in a statement that the outlet stands for “objectivity and impartiality in its news coverage and does not condone subjective personal attacks on others.”

“The post does not reflect the views of ABC News and violated our standards — as a result, Terry Moran has been suspended pending further evaluation,” the statement continued.

‘ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.