Elon Musk to Launch New Political Party After Rift with Trump
After a dramatic fallout with Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk announced on Saturday that he is launching a third political party, hinting that he will follow through on threats if the president's domestic policy bill becomes law.
"When it comes to bankrupting our country through waste and corruption, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," Trump's erstwhile "first buddy" said on his social media site, X. "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom."
Musk, the largest individual donor to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and, until recently, a close adviser to the president who spearheaded his administration's push to reduce government waste, had criticized Trump's "big beautiful bill" due to estimates that it would increase the federal deficit by trillions of dollars.
Musk's opposition to the law sparked an enormous disagreement between the two men last month. That feud appeared to have died down after Musk expressed contrition and erased the most incendiary social media remarks he had made against Trump, but it flared up again in recent days as the law approached passage. President Trump signed the bill into law on Friday.
Trump, for his part, described Musk's introduction of the new party as "ridiculous" and predicted it would confuse.
"I think it's absurd to form a third party. "We have had tremendous success with the Republican Party," Trump remarked before boarding Air Force One in New Jersey on Sunday. "The Democrats have lost their way, but it's always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to the confusion."
"Third parties have never worked so that he can have fun with it — but I think it's ridiculous," said the chief executive.
It is unknown to what extent Musk has taken legal measures to establish the party, which would need to register with the Federal Election Commission. The most recent FEC filings did not indicate that this had occurred.
The world's richest billionaire has stated that he wants a financially conservative party that limits expenditure, but has provided little information about the party's platform.
Musk and Trump share similar perspectives on contemporary social concerns. However, Musk has contended that the Republican policy program will raise debt, referring to it as "debt slavery."
Both registered Democrats and registered Republicans have long criticized the United States' two-party system; however, efforts to build a third party over the last century have been largely unsuccessful. In 1992, billionaire Ross Perot campaigned for president as an independent, gaining nearly a fifth of the popular vote but carrying no states. Bill Clinton won the election.
According to specialists in campaign finance and political science, forming a new party is both financially and legally challenging, and voters and candidates are hesitant to participate in such endeavors.
Musk stated in other social media posts this week that his party will become an active political force in next year's midterm elections, initially focusing on backing candidates in a small number of House and Senate seats.
Trump, in turn, has issued threats against the man who was once his most visible adviser. The president stated earlier this week that the government may reconsider its enormous contracts with Musk's companies and referred to the Department of Government Efficiency, which the entrepreneur once led, as a monster that may "go back and eat Elon."