Elon Musk had a “massive blowup” with President-elect Donald Trump’s senior adviser at Mar-a-Lago over Cabinet choices, according to reports.
According to Axios, Musk engaged the incoming president’s longtime aide Boris Epshteyn in a “huge explosion” last week, after spending an estimated $120 million to get Trump elected.
Musk allegedly accused Epshteyn of leaking information about Trump’s staffing decisions to the media. Epshteyn, one of Trump’s criminal defense lawyers, allegedly told Musk he had no idea what the billionaire MAGA cheerleader was talking about.
So far, Trump’s controversial candidates include Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services, and disgraced Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general. Musk has publicly voiced support for Trump’s decisions.
The House Ethics Committee is slated to meet Wednesday to consider the release of a report on Gaetz, which is reported to include charges regarding the former congressman and the trafficking of adolescent girls for sex. Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives upon his nomination to Trump’s Cabinet.
Tensions between Epshteyn and Musk have been rising since Trump won the election on November 5, according to Axios. Epshteyn worked on each of Trump’s three presidential campaigns.
Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have been charged with leading the Trump Administration’s newly founded Department of Government Efficiency.