Elon Musk launches new ‘America Party’ to battle Trump

In a bold political move, tech billionaire Elon Musk has announced the formation of a new political group known as the “America Party.”

This comes just a day after he asked his followers on X, the social media platform he owns, whether the United States needed a new political party to challenge the long-standing two-party system.

Musk, who was once a major financial supporter of President Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election bid and headed the Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration, has since fallen out with the president over disagreements surrounding a massive domestic spending bill.

Their rift escalated in recent weeks when Musk criticized the administration’s handling of government waste and threatened to campaign against lawmakers supporting the bill.

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk posted on X. He backed up his claim with a poll conducted on US Independence Day, where over 1.2 million respondents voted 2 to 1 in favour of forming a new party.

Fuelled by the poll’s results, Musk declared, “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!”

The fallout between Musk and Trump became public after Trump pushed to pass his massive One Big Beautiful Bill, which Musk opposed. Following his resignation from DOGE, Musk hinted several times about forming a new political movement and investing to unseat those supporting the bill.

Reacting to Musk’s latest announcement, Trump reportedly threatened to withdraw federal subsidies from Musk’s companies and even hinted at possible deportation, despite Musk holding US citizenship since 2002.

Trump, speaking at the White House, remarked, “We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”