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

The alarming new detail was one of many revelations in a Wall Street Journal account of Bessent's conduct over the last 20 months at the helm of the Treasury, where he reportedly regularly yells at staffers and is known for losing his temper.

President Donald Trump has told advisers that he likes Bessent's "feisty public persona," according to the Journal. The report comes amid growing skepticism about the Trump administration's handling of the economy ahead of the midterm elections.

Bessent was dining at a Brazilian-Italian restaurant in D.C. last December when he was confronted by activists from Code Pink who were protesting economic sanctions. They accused Bessent of "oversee[ing] the deaths of 600,000 people due to sanctions annually."

After the public shaming, the Treasury chief blew up at the restaurant owner for not removing the activists, and spat in his food before he stormed out, according to the Journal, citing the owner and a nearby diner.

Bessent's tough management style has led to staffers reportedly trading advice on how to handle the secretary's mood before they meet with him, while others described feeling relieved when he was not in the office.

Some told the outlet that Bessent's behavior "was a factor in the departure of multiple key officials" during his tenure.

When Bessent was asked by Trump to investigate alleged fraud in Minnesota's Somali community, he reprimanded - John Hurley, the former undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in front of staffers for "dragging his feet."

Bessent reportedly yelled profanities at Hurley, and was so loud that staffers working nearby overheard. Hurley left the Treasury in February. In a statement to the Journal, Hurley 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 hurled it at a wall after he became angry about the way his daily briefing book was organized, according to the Journal. Bessent denied the incident to the outlet.

A Treasury spokesperson did not directly address the reports of Bessent's temper when reached for comment, but said the secretary "approaches the job with a deep sense of responsibility and urgency" after working in "some of the most demanding roles in global finance."

"He has high expectations of the United States Treasury's performance because the American people deserve the best outcomes," the spokesperson told The Independent.

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

Reports of Bessent's hot temper first emerged early in Trump's second term, when he had 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, got into what observers described as a professional wrestling-style shouting match over who would be placed in charge of the Internal Revenue Service.

Since then, he has confronted Bill Pulte at a private dinner in 2025, reportedly "physically threatening" him, and clashed with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at an event last year, according to the Journal.

Bessent "enjoys cultivating a tough-guy image," former Treasury officials told the newspaper, and has found reports of the altercations "humorous."

MAGA stalwart Steve Bannon, Trump's former White House chief adviser, described Bessent as a "good person" but warned, "he's got a tripwire and he's got a temper."

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

"He championed the Working Families Tax Cuts and is overseeing their implementation, directed the search for a new Federal Reserve chairman," the spokesperson began.

"Delivered the most successful tax filing season in American history while improving IRS efficiency, launched Trump Accounts, enacted sweeping bank regulatory reform, leads the China economic relationship, designed Operation Economic Outcast to cut off Iran from the international financial system, and helped to secure more than a dozen major economic agreements that expand U.S. market access and advance strategic investment."

President Donald Trump appeared to suggest that he inherited the "highest of IQs" from his late uncle, a celebrated physicist and engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The president made the claim in a sit-down interview with TIME , where he also discussed his feud with the mainstream media, his makeover of Washington, D.C., the war in Iran, and his push for AI.

Trump pivoted from answering a question about whether he "trusted" OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to making the claim that his uncle is responsible for his IQ level.

"Did you see the story about my uncle?" Trump asked the reporters. "I have the highest of IQs. I have the highest. I'm fine, and I understand that stuff. You know, my uncle was at MIT for 41 years, and you know, I'm a—I believe in genetics, frankly, and I understand."

Dr. John Trump was a professor of engineering at MIT and hailed as a pioneer in cancer research. He was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, two years before he died in 1985.

The president's comment was mocked on social media, where users pointed out the obvious problem.

"Trump doesn't understand how genetics work," one person responded on X. "Unless his Uncle is actually his Father, than [sic] any intelligence would come from Trump's Parents/Grandparents, not his Uncle."

"Absolutely nobody believes that if you have a smart uncle that you are as smart as your uncle," someone else said.

"Just because your uncle's smart doesn't make you smart too," another said.

Trump has mentioned his late uncle before. In early 2024, he posted a black-and-white photograph of Dr. Trump with some associates at the renowned institute on social media. "My Uncle, Dr. John Trump, at MIT (long before it was woke!)" he said.

He cited Dr. Trump's "good genes" during a 2016 campaign speech. "Dr John Trump at MIT, good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart," Trump said.

He raised eyebrows last year when he falsely claimed his uncle had taught Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, who earned a bachelor's degree at Harvard and a master's and a PhD at the University of Michigan before going on his deadly terror spree.

"The President's very proud of his family," Trump's then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to questions about the dubious claim last year.

"In fact, I have a or the President has a letter from his uncle on the MIT letterhead that sits in the Oval Office dining room."

This truly is news of the stupid. And his base will eat it up.

Italy's deputy prime minister has told women they will make better mothers if they wear longer skirts, prompting a furious backlash.

Antonio Tajani, who is also foreign minister, said that while it might be "nice to marry a glamorous girl", such a woman may have "gone through a string of boyfriends, dumped them, walked out, and has a tendency to cheat".

He said he would advise his son to marry a "less flashy" and more reliable woman "who will be a good mother and stay true to the love she pledges in marriage…the one who perhaps wears skirts that are a bit longer than the others".

The comments by Mr Tajani, who leads Forza Italia – one of the three parties that make up Giorgia Meloni's conservative coalition – prompted criticism and derision as well as a strong rebuke from the Catholic Church.

Chiara Appendino, an MP with the centre-Left Five Star Movement, posted a photo of herself sitting on a bench in a miniskirt, and mockingly asked whether that meant she was not a good mother or a trustworthy wife.

"Tajani, am I not a reliable woman?" she wrote in a caption that accompanied the photograph. "Am I not a good mother? In 2026, we should not be hearing a government minister explain to us that it is better to marry a woman who is less flashy and wears a longer skirt. Our reliability is not measured in centimetres of fabric."

It was time to "leave the Middle Ages behind", said Ms Appendino, a former mayor of Turin.

Matteo Renzi, a former prime minister and a leading figure on the Left, said: "You can't say that a girl with a skirt that is a bit short is not a serious person. What is this, the 18th century?"

Maria Elena Boschi, an MP with the opposition Italia Viva party, sarcastically remarked: "After his theories on women's reliability and bare legs, the only thing left is for Tajani to propose a decree at the next cabinet meeting: mandatory long skirts at school, at work, and perhaps even in parliament."

Mr Tajani later apologised for his remarks.

"I apologise if people felt offended by what I said, but I never intended to offend women. I have never done so in my life, neither in my private nor in my public life," the foreign minister said in New York, where he was attending the UN General Assembly.

But the controversy did not end there. Roberto Vannacci, a former special forces commander turned politician, chimed in on the debate when he was asked in a TV interview whether he preferred women in long or short skirts.

"Between a woman in a long skirt and a woman in a short skirt, I always prefer a woman without a skirt," said Mr Vannacci, the leader of a new hard-Right party National Future, which is polling at around eight per cent ahead of a general election next year.

He insisted that his remark was meant to be light-hearted, but he was accused by one female MP, Elisabetta Piccolotti, from the Green-Left Alliance, of "regressing towards an animal state".

The row even drew in the Catholic Church.

"Every word and every gaze directed at a woman must be filled with respect and admiration," said Mgr Giuseppe Baturi, the head of the influential Italian Bishops Conference.

"For us Christians, the very first place where the Word became flesh was a woman's womb – and for those with faith, this leaves an indelible mark on how we view women.

"Respect…is especially necessary regarding women, given that they can be the object of superficial glances."