Feuding and ‘knife fights’ behind the scenes at Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump’s aides are said to be clashing over who fills remaining key posts, with Elon Musk at centre of one alleged argument

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Donald Trump’s inner circle is feuding over how the last key Cabinet positions are to be filled with jockeying and “knife fights” at Mar-a-Lago, sources say.
Amid doubts over whether the Senate will confirm several of the president-elect’s Cabinet picks, he is reportedly having to navigate between rival factions over who should hold key posts in his administration.
Elon Musk has emerged as a polarising figure, reportedly having a stand-up row at a Mar-a-Lago dinner with Boris Epshteyn, a member of the president’s legal team who is also shaping up to be a powerful figure.
Already hand-picked to work alongside Vivek Ramaswamy to take a chainsaw to the federal government, as co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency, the tech billionaire has been a constant presence at Mar-A-Lago.
However, according to NBC, his presence is allegedly starting to grate with members of the transition team.
“He’s behaving as if he’s a co-president and making sure everyone knows it, and he’s sure taking lots of credit for the president’s victory. Bragging about America PAC and X to anyone who will listen,” one insider claimed to the network.
“He’s trying to make President Trump feel indebted to him. And the president is indebted to no one.”
Russian-born Mr Epshteyn has also proved a controversial figure in recent weeks.
Eyebrows were reportedly raised when he put himself forward as a potential peace envoy in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, especially as he is under indictment in Arizona over his role in trying to overturn the result of the 2020 election.
Mr Epshteyn, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, dismissed the indictment as he spoke on a podcast.
“This whole canard,” he said “is one big conspiracy by Crooked Joe Biden and his hacks and thugs”.
Mr Epshteyn is understood to have pushed for the appointment of Matt Gaetz as attorney general — who is facing an uphill battle to be confirmed by the Senate having been dogged by allegations that he had sex with a high school girl, which he denies.
Mr Trump is said to see Mr Gaetz as his most important pick, with a source telling CNN that he is “not going to back off” and is “all in” on appointing the former Florida congressman to his cabinet.
According to Axios, Mr Trump personally called several senators and asked them to back Mr Gaetz.
Republican senators, who will be required to confirm Mr Gaetz, are pushing for the release of a House of Representatives report which probed claims that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old schoolgirl.
House committee investigators were also told that the former congressman had attended multiple “sex parties” between the summer of 2017 and 2018, Joel Leppard, a lawyer representing two alleged witnesses, said on Monday.
Mr Leppard told Politico that one of his clients told investigators that she witnessed Mr Gaetz having sex with her underage friend against a table. Mr Gaetz has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Musk has reportedly questioned the influence that Mr Epshteyn has had on appointments.
According to Axios this culminated in their clash in what one source called a “massive blow up”.
At one point Mr Musk accused Mr Epshteyn of leaking details of the transition picks.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mr Epshteyn reportedly snapped back
Mr Musk has not commented on the reports, but the Trump-Vance campaign gave its whole-hearted backing to the entrepreneur.
“Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again. Elon Musk is a once-in-a-generation business leader and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency,” a team Trump spokesman said in a statement.
A key point of the feuding is the position of treasury secretary, arguably the most important portfolio in the second Trump administration, tasked with delivering tax cuts.
Mr Musk has reportedly thrown his weight behind Howard Lutnick, saying that he would “actually enact change” if he took up the post.
The alternative to Mr Lutnick, who is chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial services company which lost 658 employees in the September 11 attacks, is Scott Bessent, a former money manager for George Soros — a frequent target for conservatives.
According to The New York Times, the battle between the two men is “like a knife fight”.
Mr Trump has also floated a couple of other names as he searches to find someone “big” for the role.
One is Wall Street billionaire Marc Rowan and the other former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh, described by Mr Trump as “smart and handsome”.
The infighting came as no surprise to Jeff Lord, who worked in the Reagan White House.
“Washington is like a club,” Mr Lord told the Telegraph.
“If you are from outside the club, everyone is going to give you grief.
“This is especially the case with Elon Musk. He is a genius and he has Trump’s ear. But he is putting noses out of joint.”
Thomas Whalen, associate professor of social sciences, told The Telegraph: “There are always rivalries, but in the transition team, this is unusual.”
He added that Mr Trump had set up his Cabinet selections like a “celebrity Apprentice reality show”.
“Given [his selection’s] fringe reputations on the political spectrum, it’s not surprising you are getting pushback, even from the Republican-controlled incoming Senate.
“This feels like a radical takeover of the federal government and his Cabinet choices reflect that.”
The Telegraph has approached the Trump transition team and Mr Epshteyn for comment.
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