“No,” Bessent replied. “I’m going to fucking beat your ass.”

Seeking to deescalate the situation, Malik separated the men, walking Bessent to another part of the club to calm down. During the seated dinner, Bessent and Pulte were placed on opposite ends of the table, and the party went off without further episode.

Bessent, Pulte, Malik and the White House declined to comment.

The confrontation — which one Trump insider called “bonkers” and another called “unhinged — underscores the surprising tensions between top Trump officials tasked with working on the nation’s most sensitive economic matters.

Trump announced in May that Bessent, Lutnick and Pulte would collaborate on a plan to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federal housing finance organs Pulte oversees. In recent weeks, Pulte has taken the lead on an initiative that could put as much as 15 percent of Fannie and Freddie on the public markets.

But behind the scenes, the two men have clashed in something of a turf war over the mortgage giants as well as other economic matters, four Trump insiders told me. Bessent believes, some of the people familiar with their conflict say, that Pulte has inserted himself into matters the secretary views as his jurisdiction. Pulte, they add, has bristled at the threat of being bigfooted.

Complicating the entire dynamic, according to Trump administration allies closely following the drama, is Pulte’s close ties to Lutnick. The Commerce secretary and Bessent have had a rocky relationship since the transition, when the two men competed for the Treasury position. That has injected significant distrust into anything the trio work on together.

It was why Bessent — who feels he doesn’t have time for drama and backbiting given his massive portfolio, according to the person close to him — hit the roof when he saw Pulte Wednesday.

Both men enjoy close relationships with Trump and are known within the president’s orbit to openly jockey for influence and power — albeit in different ways.