Inside the Situation Room Showdown That Exposed a Bitter Trump Cabinet Feud

The tension was hardly eased by the fact that one of the men had once sought the job held by the other.

In their new book, Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan describe a bitter clash inside the Situation Room between Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in February 2025.

The Daily Mail had earlier reported that the two brash Cabinet officials were involved in a heated exchange at Washington’s members-only Ned’s Club in April of last year, an account that representatives for both men denied.

According to the book, a comparable confrontation unfolded two months before that, this time in front of President Donald Trump, as both officials were working to secure a minerals agreement with Ukraine.

Bessent had gone to Kyiv earlier that month in an effort to finalize terms with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

When he came back without a deal, Lutnick moved in to try to take control of the negotiations.

Their competing efforts reportedly reached a breaking point roughly a week before Trump’s widely discussed Oval Office shouting match with Zelensky.

‘At a meeting of top officials in the Situation Room later that day, Lutnick sat down across from Bessent and slid his new deal across the table,’ Haberman and Swan wrote. ‘The two men’s natural antipathy toward each other was further exacerbated by the fact that Lutnick had originally wanted Bessent’s job and had had to settle for commerce secretary instead.’

Lutnick had headed the transition team and aggressively pushed to become Treasury secretary, frustrating some in Trump’s orbit, according to ABC News. 

He was given the Commerce job instead.   

In the Situation Room, Bessent’s message to Lutnick was blunt. 

‘This is a s***ty deal. You’re an idiot,’ he said, according to the authors. 

‘I don’t know who told you my deal wasn’t binding, but it is, and the reason the Ukrainians are so excited about your version is because you capped it at five hundred billion and we could’ve made one to two trillion from the deal. So of course they’re excited to sign it,’ the Treasury secretary continued. 

Lutnick, the authors wrote, took an ‘uncharacteristic step back,’ saying that that was what he had been told about Bessent’s version of the deal. 

‘I was trying to save it. But if that’s not right then we don’t do it,’ Lutnick said, according to the authors. 

The difference between the deals was that Bessent’s version would give the US 50 percent of the revenues – the total amount the country would bring in – while Lutnick’s was based on the earnings – the profits from the rare earth mineral sales.

‘Lutnick told others the Bessent version was absurd and would never be fulfilled by the Ukrainians because it would cripple them financially,’ Haberman and Swan wrote. ‘Lutnick told associates that Bessent didn’t understand how deals worked.’ 

Bessent’s view of Lutnick was ‘even lower,’ the authors said. 

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‘The two men were primed for a clash,’ they continued. 

It was a battle that Bessent appeared to win – at least according to Trump.

‘Howard’s f***ed up the deal. I had an uncapped deal and we’re getting revenues not earnings,’ Bessent told the President, according to the authors. 

‘Is that right?’ Trump asked. ‘They gave you that?’ 

Bessent replied in the affirmative.  

‘At that, Trump started mocking Lutnick, sometimes in front of others, enjoying the sport,’ Haberman and Swan wrote. 

At one point, the President asked Bessent where he was from. 

Bessent, who famously owned a historic pink mansion in Charleston, responded ‘South Carolina.’ 

‘So,’ Trump responded. ‘A WASP from South Carolina.’ 

The President then turned to Lutnick.  

‘I thought you Jews from New York were supposed to be tough, Howard,’ Trump said, according to the authors. 

The White House defended Lutnick in a statement to the Daily Mail on Thursday.

‘President Trump has enlisted the best and most experienced talent for his Cabinet and Administration. That includes Secretary Lutnick, who is leveraging his Wall Street experience to secure fair trade deals and trillions in investments into American manufacturing,’ spokesperson Kush Desai said. 

Treasury spokesperson Alexandra Preate told the Daily Mail that Bessent and Lutnick have a ‘great relationship.’

‘It should not surprise anyone other than the fake news that teammates sometimes argue behind closed doors and then go out and win the game together,’ she said. ‘Next, reporters will uncover the shocking fact that coaches occasionally yell at halftime.’