On Saturday, tech billionaire and Tesla-boss Elon Musk announced the creation of a new political party in the United States on X: the America Party. President Trump touts Musk’s move as “ridiculous” and says her former best ‘buddy’ has gone “completely off the rails”.
Musk says he wants to wipe out the Republicans and Democrats with his brand-new Middle Majority party. He wants to build an alternative for the “80 percent” of the population who have had enough of the Republicans and Democrats.
The former ally of President Donald Trump aims to restore citizens’ freedom with his party. “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” he wrote.
Musk reportedly wants to go “all in.” He has no intention of debating the “betrayal” of the Republicans and Democrats any longer. He simply wants to “replace” the two parties.
‘First buddy of the president’
Musk was initially a major supporter of Trump in his election campaign, but soon, the “first buddy of the president”, as Musk called himself, openly feuded with Trump.
The Tesla boss strongly criticized Trump’s new budget bill, which would end a popular $7,500 tax deduction for electric vehicle purchases this year, and hinted earlier this week at the creation of a new party if the bill were to pass.
‘Big Beautiful Bill’
The bill, in particular, drives Musk to a frenzy. He has no problem with the enormous transfer from poor to rich, but he is concerned about the exploding government deficit. Undoubtedly, the fact that the law threatens to harm him significantly in business, partly due to the abolition of several subsidies, also plays a role.
On Friday evening, Trump signed his “Big Beautiful Bill” during an Independence Day celebration. On X, Musk explains that the budget deficit will increase “from an already insane $2 trillion under Biden to $2.5 trillion” due to Trump’s spending law. According to him, the expected increase in the US national debt, estimated at $3.3 trillion (more than 2.8 trillion euros) over ten years, will “bankrupt the country”.
‘Ridiculous’
Trump, on the other hand, calls Musk’s political move “ridiculous”, saying a third party will confuse voters. In a post on Truth Social, Trump subsequently wrote that Musk is “completely off the rails.”
“Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous,” the president told reporters traveling with him back to the White House from his New Jersey golf club.
Political games
In the past, numerous figures in the US have attempted to dismantle the two-party system. Still, Musk will not be able to redraw the political landscape because, having been born in South Africa, he will never be eligible to run for president.
Musk himself seems to realize that his impact will be limited, but perhaps big enough to shake Trump’s majority in Congress. However, the man also takes huge risks with his political games.
In response to Musk’s posts calling the bill “insane”, Trump said he might “look into deporting” /the South African-born, naturalized US citizen billionaire. The president also mused about slashing subsidies to his companies, especially SpaceX, which holds billions of dollars in government contracts.
