Musk has repeatedly gone head to head with other key figures within Donald Trump’s administration. And now, the US news website Axios has reported he actually went chest to chest with the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a furious, expletive-laden dispute over the appointment of a new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) boss.
As for the wrestling undertones? Well, what else can be expected in a machismo-drenched administration, where it’s all about showmanship, nothing is as it seems, the world is simplistically divided between good guys and bad guys, and there is way too much fake tan.
Last week’s bust-up followed Trump naming Gary Shapley as acting commissioner of the IRS after lobbying by Musk. Bessent felt Musk had gone behind his back and was agitating for the decision to be overturned.
It was unclear who was winning the clash before an aide pulled the two men apart, but Bessent can surely claim a victory with Shapley being removed from post the following day.
After the clash, wrestling commentator (or “White House spokesperson” to give her proper title) Karoline Leavitt said: “It’s no secret President Trump has put together a team of people who are incredibly passionate about the issues impacting our country.”
There was also Musk’s clash with the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, who said Doge was laying off air controllers while he was trying to deal with a string of air crashes. Musk said he was lying.
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There is a weird love-in going on between Donald Trump and WWE
Read MoreAnd then, most publicly, was his spat with the Senior Trade Adviser Peter Navarro whom he labelled “a moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks” after he referred to Musk as a “car assembler” in an interview.
One colleague Musk hasn’t fought with is the Education Secretary. But then, Linda McMahon was president of the actual WWE.
Which of course it isn’t – but this isn’t a functional government. It’s a dysfunctional dump-truck fire that is increasingly characterised not only by internal wranglings but external incompetence such as disaster-prone Pete Hegseth as Defence Secretary.
In each of the clashes, he has reportedly sat back and allowed the drama to unfold, almost as an amused observer. Or perhaps a Roman emperor watching his gladiators slug it out for his entertainment. Each fighting for their survival – against their opponent but in proving their strength to the boss.
In the early 80s Trump hosted two Wrestlemania events – the annual showcase of WWE. In the 2020s he is hosting another in the Oval Office. It may be ridiculous, over the top and chaotic with a darkness beneath the bright lights, but it is a spectacle. And one in which this President thrives.
Alison Phillips was editor of the ‘Daily Mirror’ from 2018 to 2024; she won Columnist of the Year at the 2018 National Press Awards
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