Treasury Secretary Bessent Reacts To Reported Fight With Musk, Says He's 'More of a Ninja' While Comparing Elon To a 'Viking'

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sought to downplay his feud with billionaire Elon Musk over the best course of action for the Trump administration, saying the two "had disagreements" but "want to get to the same place."

Speaking to the New York Post's "Pod Force One," Bessent addressed reports of a physical fight between the two earlier this year. "The Silicon Valley mode of operation is move quickly and break things. I always say here at Treasury we move deliberately and fix things," Bessent said. "I think Elon's probably fancies himself more of a Viking. I think I'm more of a ninja."

The incident in question took place in mid-April, when the two had gone into the Oval Office to make their cases for their preferred people to become the next acting IRS commissioner. Trump ended up siding with Bessent.

After the meeting, the two exited the Oval Office and began exchanging insults, according to a scene described to former Trump adviser Bannon and reported by The Washington Post. The Treasury secretary then called Musk a "total fraud" over his failure to uncover over $1 trillion in wasteful and fraudulent government spending, like he said he would do.

"Musk then rammed his shoulder into Bessent's ribcage 'like a rugby player,' Bannon said, and Bessent hit him back. Multiple people stepped in to break up the scrum as the two men reached the national security adviser's office," reads the passage of the Washington Post's article detailing the fight. Musk was then escorted out of the West Wing. Trump then learned about the incident and said "this is too much," according to Bannon.

Bessent said last week that claims that he called Musk a fraud were "fake news," but didn't deny getting physical with him. The White House did not deny a physical altercation when asked about it earlier this month.

Speaking to Fox News' Maria Bartiromo in Sunday Morning Futures, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she "wouldn't describe" the episode as a "fistfight." "It was definitely a disagreement," she added.

Musk left his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last month and has largely retreated from the public eye, especially after a high-voltage feud with Donald Trump where the two traded blows on social media. Musk ended up saying he went too far, deleting posts about the president, including one claiming he was on the files related to disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein.