Scott Bessent spit in his food, exploded at DC restaurateur after being confronted by protesters: report

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly spat in his food in rage after being confronted by protesters at a Washington, D.C., restaurant late last year.

This alarming new detail was one of many revelations of a Wall Street Journal account of Bessent’s conduct over the past 20 months as head of the Treasury, where he allegedly regularly shouted at staff members and was known to lose his temper.

President Donald Trump told his advisers that he appreciated Bessent’s “fiery public persona,” according to the Newspaper. The report comes amid growing skepticism about the Trump administration’s handling of the economy as the midterm elections approach.

Bessent was dining at an Italian-Brazilian restaurant in Washington last December when he was confronted by Code Pink activists protesting economic sanctions. They accused Bessent of “overseeing the deaths of 600,000 people every year because of sanctions.”

After the public humiliation, the Treasury chief exploded at the restaurant owner for not evicting the activists, and spat in his food before storming out, according to the Newspaperciting the owner and a nearby restaurant.

Bessent’s strict management style led staffers to exchange advice on how to manage the secretary’s mood before meeting with him, while others reported feeling relieved when he was out of the office.

Some told the outlet that Bessent’s behavior “was a factor in the departure of several key officials” during his tenure.

When Trump asked Bessent to investigate alleged fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community, he chastised John Hurley, the former undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in front of staff for “dragging his feet.”

Bessent allegedly shouted profanities at Hurley and was so loud that staff members working nearby heard him. Hurley left Treasury in February. In a statement to NewspaperHurley praised Bessent as “a brilliant and fearless warrior for President Trump and the American people.”

In another incident last year, Bessent picked up a binder full of papers and threw it against a wall after becoming angry with the way his daily briefing book was organized, according to the Newspaper. Bessent denied the incident at the outlet.

A Treasury spokesperson did not directly address reports of Bessent’s temperament when reached for comment, but said the secretary “approaches his job with a deep sense of responsibility and urgency” after holding “some of the most demanding roles in global finance.”

“He has high expectations for the performance of the U.S. Treasury because the American people deserve the best results,” the spokesperson said. The Independent.

The White House also defended Bessent in a statement to the newspaper and touted “the level of professionalism and accountability” he brought to Treasury as “one of the great accomplishments of this administration.”

Reports of Bessent’s short-tempered nature first emerged early in Trump’s second term, when he got into a physical altercation with Elon Musk.

Bessent and the world’s richest man, who for six months oversaw the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency, engaged in what observers described as a professional wrestling-style brawl over who would be named to head the Internal Revenue Service.

Since then, he confronted Bill Pulte at a private dinner in 2025, allegedly “physically threatened” him, and clashed with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at an event last year, according to the Newspaper.

Bessent “likes to cultivate a tough-guy image,” former Treasury officials told the newspaper, and found reports of the altercations “humorous.”

MAGA stalwart and former Trump White House chief adviser Steve Bannon described Bessent as a “good person” but warned, “he has a tripwire and he has character.”

In response to the report, the Treasury spokesperson also touted several policies implemented under Bessent.

“He championed tax cuts for working families and oversaw their implementation, led the search for a new Federal Reserve chairman,” the spokesperson began.

“We delivered the most successful tax filing season in American history while improving the efficiency of the IRS, launched the Trump accounts, passed sweeping banking regulatory reform, led economic relations with China, designed Operation Economic Outcast to cut Iran off from the international financial system, and helped secure more than a dozen major economic agreements that expanded access to the U.S. market and advanced strategic investment. »