President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that Elon Musk and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a heated argument recently, but denied it turned violent, as The Washington Post had reported this past weekend.
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked the president if he ever saw the former Department of Government Efficiency boss and Bessent “get physical” at the White House. “No I didn’t,” the president responded, before saying “they did have an argument, but I didn’t see a lot of physicality there.”
The president’s comment comes after The Washington Post said Musk threw his shoulder into Bessent “like a rugby player” during an argument in mid-April — a move that led to the treasury secretary fighting back. The Washington Post’s story was based on a conversation with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who has been one of Musk’s biggest critics on the right.
His other comments on Monday indicate the Trump-Musk feud that blew up last week is simmering down. If you somehow missed it, the Tesla and SpaceX boss accused President Trump of being named in the Epstein Files and said he supported his impeachment during a flurry of X posts on June 5.
President Trump, on his end, said he was “very disappointed” in Musk and questioned whether the U.S. government should end its contracts with SpaceX, the rocket company Musk runs. The battle was good for X, the social platform Musk owns, and the president’s Truth Social platform, though, with the latter enjoying a record day for traffic amid the back-and-forth.
On Monday, President Trump said the two “had a good relationship” and that he wished him “very well,” echoing comments he made over the weekend. Musk has also looked to cool down the battle on his end by deleting the X post in which he insinuated the president was a pedophile.
