President Trump “enjoyed the sport” of watching Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clash in front of him, a new book claims.
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump recounts a meeting to discuss a proposed minerals deal with Ukraine, ultimately announced in May last year.
“I’m not a big fan of Ukraine,” Trump said, according to authors and New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. “Except their women. They keep winning Miss Universe.”
Lutnick reportedly went on to tell the president Bessent had “screwed up” the deal with the war-torn European ally.
In response, Bessent is said to have looked at Lutnick’s own proposal and told him: “This is a s****y deal. You’re an idiot”.
The extract, quoted by Lawrence O’Donnell on MS NOW’s The Last Word, continued: “Bessent went right back to the president and said, ‘Howard’s f***ed up the deal.”
After more back and forth, “Trump started mocking Lutnick, sometimes in front of others, enjoying the sport,” the book added.
Bessent is quoted elsewhere in the book expressing his dislike for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I’ve dealt with this little f***er. He’s tricky. He’s like the special-needs child for the Europeans. And he’s acting like Mr Bean on crack,” he is quoted as saying.
The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.
Lutnick was a keen cheerleader for the president’s reciprocal tariffs policy last year but has more recently faced tough questions about his past relations with the late pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, with Politico reporting in April that Trump was considering firing him.
Lutnick has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein and voluntarily appeared before the House Oversight Committee last month to take questions on their interactions.
For his part, Bessent has a reputation for being hot-tempered, reportedly sparring with Elon Musk in the West Wing last year and more recently with the acting director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte.
In the latter confrontation, the secretary allegedly accused Pulte of briefing against him last September and demanding to know: “Why the f*** are you talking to the president about me? F*** you. I’m gonna punch you in your f***ing face.”
Regime Change, which arrives in book stores Tuesday, has already created waves after it was revealed that top administration officials met in the Situation Room last year to discuss the Epstein scandal.
Another extract says that Trump “vented” at Vice President JD Vance for failing to echo his precise rhetoric regarding the damage done to Iran’s nuclear facilities and that he appeared to be more interested in buying maple trees for the White House grounds than discussing the current war.
