Bessent called Lutnick 'an idiot' to his face: Book
Key takeaways
- During a Monday episode of MS NOW s The Last Word, host Lawrence O Donnell read off passages from Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump from Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.
- One of the passages that O Donnell read off focused around a conflict between Lutnick and Bessent over a minerals deal with Ukraine.
- Earlier this month, Bessent said he once told Pulte that he was going to kick his a–.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
During a Monday episode of MS NOW s The Last Word, host Lawrence O Donnell read off passages from Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump from Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. O Donnell also had Swan and Haberman on his show, asking them questions about the book, which was released on Tuesday.
One of the passages that O Donnell read off focused around a conflict between Lutnick and Bessent over a minerals deal with Ukraine. Bessent, according to the passage, was accused of having screwed up the deal by Lutnick and Bessent called a proposal from Lutnick a s—ty deal, and told the commerce secretary he was an idiot.
Bessent has had a few reported moments of high tension with fellow members of the administration, including acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader and tech billionaire Elon Musk.