Musk Calls Treasury Secretary Bessent a ‘Soros Stooge’ After Saying He Was Not Popular Among Americans

Elon Musk slammed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after the official criticized the forming of the “America Party,” saying that while the cost-cutting goals of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were popular, he was not.

Asked if the Trump administration was worried about the forming of the party, Bessent added that he believes the boards of directors of Musk’s companies “wanted him to come back and run those companies, which he is better at than anyone.”

“I imagine that those boards of directors did not like this announcement yesterday, and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,” Bessent said on Sunday.

Musk reacted to the statement with a post on his social media platform, X. “Bessent is a Soros stooge. And he’s a political science major who can’t even do math. The polling for me was very positive a year ago, which is why Trump used me so much,” the billionaire claimed.

It is the latest episode of a fraught relationship that had testy incidents while the two worked in the Trump administration. The most reported one 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 Steve 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 a 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.

Musk announced on Sunday he was creating the “America Party” to “give you back your freedom.” He added that the party would caucus independently and that “legislative discussions would be had with both parties.” Axios noted, however, that Musk hasn’t taken some necessary steps to formally register the party.

Musk also said on Friday that a way to start would be “to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.” “Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people,” he added.