Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is under mounting criticism following a report that detailed his short fuse and a confrontation at a Washington restaurant in which he allegedly berated the owner and spat into his own food before walking out.

The episode unfolded in December 2025 at Reveler's Hour, a restaurant in Washington, D.C., where activists with the group CodePink — a grassroots organization known for confrontational protests against U.S. foreign policy — heckled Bessent over U.S. economic sanctions, a policy administered by the Treasury Department, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal. It is the latest in a string of incidents that have given Bessent a reputation for losing his temper both inside the Treasury Department and beyond it.

"So let's give it up for the man who is eating in peace as people starve across the world based on his sanctions, which are economic warfare," CodePink organizer Olivia DiNucci told diners, according to the Journal.

The report states that Bessent called the protesters "ignorant" before yelling at the restaurant's owner for failing to remove them. The owner told the Journal that Bessent spat into his own food before leaving. Current and former Treasury officials have also cited the restaurant confrontation in describing his conduct.

According to the Journal, Bessent has on multiple occasions reprimanded senior officials and junior employees since taking office in 2025, at times shouting so loudly that his voice could be heard outside meeting rooms. In January, he reportedly clashed with John Hurley, then Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence — the office overseeing the department's sanctions programs — over the pace of an inquiry into fraud claims involving Minnesota's Somali community. Hurley subsequently left the department to take up an ambassadorship at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Officials who spoke to the Journal said their assistants have at times discussed ways to avoid Bessent when he is angry. The report also noted that dozens of officials who had not been confirmed by the Senate have left or been dismissed, along with seven Senate-confirmed officials, only one of whom has been replaced. That thinning leadership bench matters because Treasury sits at the center of the administration's economic policymaking, making the pace of refills — and any further departures — a thread to watch going forward.

Steve Bannon, who served as White House chief strategist during President Trump's first term, offered a blunt assessment of Bessent's management style. "He's a good person, but he's got a tripwire and he's got a temper," Bannon told the Journal.

Bessent has previously acknowledged another heated exchange within the Trump administration. At a Senate hearing in June, Senator Thom Tillis asked whether he had threatened to punch Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "No sir, I actually said I was going to kick his a——," Bessent replied.

The White House has stood by Bessent, describing the "professionalism and accountability" he has brought to the Treasury as one of the administration's key achievements. President Donald Trump has also publicly praised his treasury secretary, joking at an event in April — apparently in reference to Bessent's reputation — that he had "created a monster."

Coverage originally appeared on Alternet.