'I'm Gonna Punch You in Your F---ing Face': Scott Bessent Threatens an Administration Rival

[demmiblue]

A private dinner attended by dozens of administration officials and close advisers to President Donald Trump was temporarily marred by a dramatic clash between two of Trump’s top economic officials, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at one point threatening to punch top housing finance official Bill Pulte “in the fucking face.”

The Wednesday evening event was supposed to be one of celebration: It was both the much-anticipated inaugural dinner at Executive Branch, the ultra-exclusive Georgetown club created by and for Trump world’s uberrich, and a birthday party for MAGA-friendly podcaster Chamath Palihapitiya.

…

But amid the cocktail-hour din, Bessent lashed out at Pulte in an expletive-laden diatribe. The Treasury secretary had heard from several people that the Federal Housing Finance Agency director had been badmouthing him to Trump, a person close to him said. He wasn’t about to engage in chit-chat as if nothing was amiss.

“Why the fuck are you talking to the president about me? Fuck you,” Bessent told Pulte. “I’m gonna punch you in your fucking face.”

…

“It’s either me or him,” Bessent said to Malik. “You tell me who’s getting the fuck out of here.”
“Or,” he added, “we could go outside.”
“To do what?” asked Pulte. “To talk?”
“No,” Bessent replied. “I’m going to fucking beat your ass.”

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/09/08/scott-bessent-bill-pulte-blowup-00549956

[lapfog_1]

1. didn't Bessent and Musk get into a fist fight at the White House

before Elon and trump split?

Bessent seems to have a problem

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Bessent is only 80% nuts which is a Problem when you are surrounded by 100% nuts. . . . . nt

[Walleye]

2. They are pretending austerity for us. But for them, dinners, and cocktail parties.

[Lovie777]

3. I got my ...................

since these jackasses prefer the pass instead of the future maybe they will have showdowns (gun duels).

[Celerity]

4. Exclusive: Bill Pulte accused Fed Governor Lisa Cook of fraud. His relatives filed housing claims similar to hers

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bill-pulte-accused-fed-governor-lisa-cook-fraud-his-relatives-filed-housing-2025-09-05/

Summary

Pulte father, stepmother claim dual homestead exemptions in Michigan, Florida

Michigan revokes Pulte exemption after Reuters inquiry

Bill Pulte accuses Fed governor of similar dual residency claims

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Michigan, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Close relatives of the federal official who has accused a Federal Reserve governor of improperly claiming primary residence on two properties have declared the same status on two homes in two different states, public records show.

Mark and Julie Pulte, the father and stepmother of Bill Pulte, President Donald Trump’s appointee as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, since 2020 have claimed so-called “homestead exemptions” for residences in wealthy neighborhoods in both Michigan and Florida, according to the records. The exemption is meant to give a discount to homeowners on taxes for properties they use as their primary residence.

Local tax officials in both states told Reuters that claiming more than one home as a primary residence isn’t generally allowed in their jurisdictions and could be punishable by fines or back taxes. After Reuters contacted tax officials in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, to inquire about the dual claims, Darrin Kraatz, director of assessing, on Thursday said the township “as of today” would revoke the exemption on the Pultes’ residence there.

snip

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Apparently three cabinet members (3 sycophants) have the same problem Pulte is pushing onto Cook

Note: Cook's problem might only be Pulte's fishing expedition, hence I say "pushing onto Cook". She does not have to present a defence until accused in some kind of legal proceeding.

Governor Greg Abbott apparently has a similar problem. (I think it is Abbott, not LtGov. Patrick has lots of legal issues already.)

[Bettie]

6. What is that they say on Stephanie Miller?

Oh yeah: "Fight, fight, fight, big bag of rats".

And here's the song:

[BoRaGard]

7. republicon family values suck rotten clumps of caviar

[Captain Zero]

9. Oh yeah? Punch in face with what, Bessent?

If you know you know.

[OldBaldy1701E]

10. Man, oh man.

I wish that Pulte had taken him out and beaten his ass.

Not that I want either of them to be seen as anything other than idiots, but think about how many notches Pissant would be taken down if that had happened.

The icing on the cake would be when the orange gibbon stands to the side and cheers like a typical instigating school child.

What a bunch of children. (Apologies to children, they cannot help being what they are.)

[marble falls]

11. Too bad none of this was on camera. But isn't this been the story all along? Knowing that TACO listens to ...

... the last person who speaks with him, they ALL bad mouth each other to him?

Too bad Pulte didn't call Bessent's bluff. They're all cowards in the end.

[ms liberty]

14. Isn't that how it was last time, too? The Orange Monster seems to have a type

When choosing who to employ. He wants them to fight each other to get his attention.

[marble falls]

15. That's why there was a revolving door for WH appointees.

[ms liberty]

18. Maybe we should start a pool on who goes first

[marble falls]

20. Someone'll get writers cramp or carpal tunnel updating the book. One would need a new program every day ...

... to know who the players are.

[YodaMom2]

37. It's been a tactic of his for decades.

He encourages infighting, with his staff/cabinet clawing at each other to win his favor. This serves a dual purpose: it feeds his pathologically needy ego, and it discourages his underlings from banding together - against him.

[ms liberty]

12. There's hay to be made here.

With all these "hoity-toity" dinner parties of the elite rich, the robber barons of the new age. It's begging to go viral with memes and mockery.

[tanyev]

13. Now, now gentlemen. You save that behavior for Predator's Patio.

That way we can all see it.

[ms liberty]

16. The Predator Patio at the Pyrite Palace

I like it. This could get fun.

[marble falls]

17. Patio? Looks more like a parking lot.

[ms liberty]

19. I have likened it to an outdoor food court at an entertainment park.

[marble falls]

23. All they need to do is stripe it and give JD Sofaboffer a little gray jacket and a gate, and they'd be in bidness.

[lonely bird]

32. Yeah

With apologies to Joni Mitchell.

[Brainfodder]

21. Please proceed and get on video.

tia

[Queso Delicioso]

25. Worldstarrrrr!!

[NoMoreRepugs]

22. Trump to host a "Golden Gloves" extravaganza on the concrete playground AKA rose garden???

Please, these candyasses never had a scrap in their lives.

[Hey Joe]

34. Bessent couldn't beat his way out of a wet paper bag

This Howdy Doodie looking motherfucker never threw a punch in his entire privileged existence.

But do go on Scottie…..

[Seinan Sensei]

40. A slap-fest, maybe

[CanonRay]

24. Like a bunch of 8th graders

[NNadir]

26. Incompetent schoolboys led by a senile criminal.

[SamKnause]

27. I hope they all beat the fuck out of each other.

[Torchlight]

28. These guys seem really overly-emotional... bordering on hysterics

and rather easily triggered by the benign events of given day. I hope they're okay.

[travelingthrulife]

31. You would almost think they are female with all that displayed emotion.

I would love to see Bessent get his clock cleaned by anyone. All billionaires in fact should be put into one of Elon's exploding rockets for a trip to the sun.

[taxi]

39. Hysterics. I like it. Going forward hysterics will be a go-to word in any conversion with maga.

Why does Trump go into hysterics every time he hears Epstein's name?
Why is Trump always hysterical when someone has a different idea?
Why does feeding kids at school lunch cause every republican such hysteria?

[Vinca]

29. Forget the wrestling match or whatever spectacle it is they're planning, we want to watch the rats fight each other.

[BlueKota]

30. How professional!

The only thing their expert at is being violent arrogant assholes.

[mountain grammy]

33. Why not just shoot him?

They should have a giant circular firing squad. Go for it you evil bastards!

[twodogsbarking]

35. The other normal. Actually, abnormal.

[swong19104]

36. They resolve differences like five year olds

And just like five year olds, if they actually went through with it, going outside, both would chicken out and for mommy to help bail them out.

What a total loser of a presidential cabinet.

[UpInArms]

38. project 2025 warning

from the linked article:

Trump announced in May that Bessent, Lutnick and Pulte would collaborate on a plan to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federal housing finance organs Pulte oversees. In recent weeks, Pulte has taken the lead on an initiative that could put as much as 15 percent of Fannie and Freddie on the public markets.

from Project 2025

https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

A primary driver of higher costs during the past three years has been the
Federal Reserve’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Since
March 2020, the Federal Reserve has driven down mortgage interest rates
and fueled a rise in housing costs by purchasing $1.3 trillion of MBSs from
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. The $2.7 trillion now owned by
the Federal Reserve is nearly double the levels of March 2020. The flood of
capital from the Federal Reserve into MBSs increased the amount of capital
available for real estate purchases while lower interest rates on mortgage
borrowing—driven down in part by the Federal Reserve’s MBS purchases—
induced and enabled borrowers to take on even larger loans.21 The Federal
Reserve should be precluded from any future purchases of MBSs and should
wind down its holdings either by selling off the assets or by allowing them to
mature without replacement.

from Project 2025 tracker

https://www.project2025.observer/en

https://www.project2025.observer/en?agencies=Federal+Reserve

MONETARY RULE REFORM OPTIONS
While the above recommendations would reduce Federal Reserve manipulation
and subsidies, none would limit the inflationary and recessionary cycles caused by
the Federal Reserve. For that, major reform of the Federal Reserve’s core activity
of manipulating interest rates and money would be needed.
A core problem with government control of monetary policy is its exposure
to two unavoidable political pressures: pressure to print money to subsidize

— 736 —Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise

government deficits and pressure to print money to boost the economy artificially
until the next election. Because both will always exist with self-interested politi-
cians, the only permanent remedy is to take the monetary steering wheel out of
the Federal Reserve’s hands and return it to the people.
This could be done by abolishing the federal role in money altogether, allowing
the use of commodity money, or embracing a strict monetary-policy rule to ward
off political meddling. Of course, neither free banking nor a allowing commodi-
ty-backed money is currently being discussed, so we have formulated a menu of
reforms. Each option involves trade-offs between how effectively it restrains the
Federal Reserve and how difficult each policy would be to implement, both polit-
ically for Congress and economically in terms of disruption to existing financial
institutions. We present these options in decreasing order of effectiveness against
inflation and boom-and-bust recessionary cycles.
Free Banking. In free banking, neither interest rates nor the supply of money
is controlled by the government. The Federal Reserve is effectively abolished, and
the Department of the Treasury largely limits itself to handling the government’s
money. Regions of the U.S. actually had a similar system, known as the “Suffolk
System,” from 1824 until the 1850s, and it minimized both inflation and economic
disruption while allowing lending to flourish.23
Under free banking, banks typically issue liabilities (for example, checking
accounts) denominated in dollars and backed by a valuable commodity. In the
19th century, this backing was commonly gold coins: Each dollar, for example, was
defined as about 1/20 of an ounce of gold, redeemable on demand at the issuing
bank. Today, we might expect most banks to back with gold, although some might
prefer to back their notes with another currency or even by equities or other assets
such as real estate. Competition would determine the right mix of assets in banks’
portfolios as backing for their liabilities.

the battle for the Federal Reserve is about to begin

[Prairie Gates]

41. Good God

So happy the adults are in charge.



All fascist governments end up with this kind of shit, because all the underlings backbite each other to the Fuhrer, which is exactly how the Fuhrer likes it.

[struggle4progress]

42. Piggies!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

43. MaddowBlog-The reported conflict between Scott Bessent and Bill Pulte adds to the Team Trump schisms

Donald Trump has claimed prominent members of his team “get along with each other” and “love each other.” There’s overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Trump recently said a key difference between his first and second terms is that members of his team “get along with each other” and “love each other.”

With Bessent threatening to punch Bill Pulte “in the f---ing face,” the boast appears hilariously untrue. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-09T16:31:41.469Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/reported-conflict-scott-bessent-bill-pulte-adds-team-trump-schisms-rcna230069

A couple of months ago, Donald Trump sat down with Fox News’ Lara Trump (his daughter-in-law) and reflected on one of the key differences between his first and second terms. “We have really good people this time, and they get along with each other,” the president said, adding, “They love each other ... and it’s smoother. I think it’s smoother.”

Perhaps the Republican was confusing his team for some other administration — because there’s all kinds of evidence that contradicts the idea that prominent members of his team “get along with each other” and “love each other.” Politico reported:

A private dinner attended by dozens of administration officials and close advisers to President Donald Trump was temporarily marred by a dramatic clash between two of Trump’s top economic officials, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at one point threatening to punch top housing finance official Bill Pulte ‘in the f---ing face.’

.....One Trump insider told Politico the confrontation was “bonkers,” and another called the developments “unhinged.” (None of the relevant individuals commented on the record.)....

Those schisms came on the heels of Elon Musk and Bessent getting into a heated shouting match at the White House. Meanwhile, Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have been at odds with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro; and Musk, during his tenure, also clashed with Navarro, Duffy and Rubio......

As we’ve discussed, throughout American history, there have been administrations with rival factions, but those divisions usually take time to develop. On Team Trump, the cracks are bursting into view less than eight months after Inauguration Day.

In theory, a strong president could intervene, resolve differences, unite his or her own team and establish a clear vision for his or her administration to follow. In practice, however, Trump appears content to play the role of President Bystander, watching these divisions get even worse.