A physical altercation reportedly broke out at the White House in April between Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after a dispute over competing policy proposals. According to The Washington Post, Musk allegedly shoulder-checked Bessent after Trump backed Bessent’s plan, sparking a scuffle that required several officials to intervene. Steve Bannon told the Post that it took several people to break up a physical altercation between Musk and Bessent before Musk was removed from the West Wing. Bannon claimed Bessent called Musk a fraud, prompting Musk to ram his shoulder into Bessent’s rib cage, after which Bessent retaliated. Trump reportedly reacted by calling the incident “too much” and later threatened to revoke federal contracts and subsidies awarded to Musk’s companies.
