Ammon News - Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a heated shouting match in earshot of President Trump and other officials in the White House last week during a dispute about the IRS, two witnesses and three sources briefed on the matter tell Axios.

"It was two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing," one witness said of the argument last Thursday. (Bessent's net worth is actually $520 million.)

The clash — with both men in each other's face — showed how much Musk's personality and style have rankled some senior administration officials since he began running roughshod through agencies with DOGE.

The New York Times first reported Friday that Bessent and Musk had a disagreement over who would lead the IRS. But the chest-to-chest clash between the two men a day earlier has not been reported previously.

"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," the first witness said.

Representatives for Musk and Bessent declined to comment.

Musk has had high-profile disputes with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Trade Adviser Peter Navarro as well.

The latest trouble between Musk and Bessent began brewing on April 16, when Trump named Gary Shapley — Musk's choice — as acting commissioner of the IRS. Bessent wanted Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender in the position.

Bessent lobbied Trump to install Faulkender and fumed that Musk was causing trouble by going behind his back.

On Thursday, at a meeting in the White House, Bessent confronted Musk and, a source said, "the F bombs started to fly."

Bessent criticized Musk for overpromising and under-delivering budget cuts with DOGE. Musk clapped back by calling Bessent a "Soros agent" and accusing him of having run "a failed hedge fund." (Trump has praised Bessent's financial acumen.)

The argument was so heated that an aide stepped in between the two men to separate them. It took place within earshot of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was visiting Trump that day. Axios