Contradictions between members of the transition team of US President-elect Donald Trump are leading to abuse and physical attacks, writes The Washington Post (WP), citing sources.
Interlocutors told the publication that one of the leaders of Trump’s transition team Howard Lutnickwhom he nominated for the post of Secretary of Commerce, recently refused to allow his legal counsel to attend a meeting at the politician’s Mar-a-Lago estate. boris epstein. He, in turn, refused to obey and pushed Latnik with his elbow. The incident was “quickly forgotten” by Trump’s entourage, the publication states.
Disagreements within the president-elect’s team have more than once led to “disputes, expulsions from meetings and personal attacks,” the newspaper writes. The publication recalled the fight between Elon Musk and Epstein at a dinner at the Trump residence, which Axios also previously reported on. The Washington Post linked the incident to the fact that the participants in the fights belonged to “competing factions.”
Epstein is an advisor to the president-elect. The New York Times wrote that he asked to be appointed envoy to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
Trump appointed Musk to lead the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) and nominated Latnick for the position of Secretary of Commerce. Axios wrote that the differences between the first two arose over appointments in the new federal government.
According to Axios, Musk questioned whether Epstein had too much influence in choosing Trump’s government candidates. This, in particular, influenced the choice Matt Goetz for the position of Attorney General (who later resigned) and head of the Ministry of Justice, as well as Bill McGinley for the position of White House legal advisor. The publication notes that Epstein was outraged by the fact that Musk questioned the qualifications of the candidates he proposed.
Interlocutors told Axios that there was a “massive scandal” at a dinner at Trump’s estate on November 13. They say this happened when Musk accused Epstein of leaking details about Trump’s transition team, including nominees, to the media. He responded by saying that the businessman didn’t know what he was talking about.
Musk himself had a significant influence on Trump’s choice of government candidates, Axios and ABC noted. According to his information, after the November 5 elections he spent a lot of time at the politician’s estate and evaluated the choice of his candidates.
The businessman was one of the largest donors to Trump’s election campaign. He also actively supported him during the race. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk spent around $100 million on Trump’s election campaign, RBC clarifies.
