Trump Aide ‘Threatened to Beat’ Colleague During Heated Elevator Clash

A senior Trump administration official is facing an internal State Department investigation after allegedly shoving and threatening a colleague during a heated elevator confrontation, according to a complaint cited by multiple outlets.

The alleged clash involves Gavin Wax, a Trump-aligned political operative who now serves as chief of staff to the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, and Ali Motamedi, a special assistant to Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry in his role as U.S. special envoy to Greenland.

According to a complaint obtained by the Daily Mail, Motamedi accused Wax of confronting him inside the State Department earlier this month before the exchange allegedly turned physical.

“If you ever talk sh-t about me or my family again, I will beat the fu-k out of you,” Motamedi claimed Wax told him, according to the complaint.

Motamedi alleged that Wax then forcefully shoved him in the chest as the two exited an elevator before Wax got back inside.

The complaint reportedly triggered an investigation by the State Department’s Office of Special Investigations, adding another workplace controversy to the orbit of Trump’s second-term administration.

Motamedi reportedly wrote in his complaint that he did not know what prompted Wax’s alleged anger and said he did not understand why Wax believed he had spoken negatively about him or his family.

But the alleged elevator showdown is already being hotly disputed.

According to sources cited by the Daily Mail, the confrontation may have stemmed from a dispute involving expense reimbursements before escalating into a verbal clash over allegations that Motamedi had made comments about Wax’s Jewish heritage.

Sources aligned with Motamedi have denied those claims and pushed back on that version of events.

Another State Department official, Charles Yockey, was allegedly present during the encounter and reportedly supported Wax’s account that no physical assault took place, according to the outlet.

Questions also remain about whether surveillance footage could settle the dispute. Some sources reportedly said security cameras may have captured at least part of the incident, while others questioned whether any usable footage exists.

As of publication, neither the State Department nor Wax had publicly commented on the allegations.

The incident has drawn attention in part because of Wax’s deep ties to Trumpworld. Before entering the administration, Wax served as president of the New York Young Republican Club, a hard-right political organization that became the first Young Republican chapter to endorse Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump publicly praised Wax during the group’s annual gala in 2023, further cementing his status as a loyal foot soldier in the president’s political operation.

The complaint also reportedly notes that this is not the first workplace controversy involving Wax. According to the Daily Mail, he was previously accused in a separate internal complaint of threatening another administration official during a dispute connected to leaked group chats.

Wax denied wrongdoing in that matter and remained in his position after a White House review.

The Daily Beast independently confirmed that the State Department opened an internal investigation into the alleged elevator confrontation, while also reporting that sources familiar with the matter offered sharply conflicting accounts of what happened.

For now, the case remains an internal administrative investigation. No criminal charges have been announced, no lawsuit has been filed, and no public court records related to the allegations have been identified.

Still, the controversy has given critics another example of the chaos and personal feuds that have repeatedly followed Trump-aligned figures into government — this time allegedly spilling into an elevator inside the State Department.