The feud between President Donald Trump and his former ally, Elon Musk, has taken a new twist as the tech billionaire announced the formation of the American Party, a new political party to challenge the two dominant parties.
He made this announcement on Saturday, a day after Mr Trump signed his self-styled “Big, Beautiful Bill” into law.
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Mr Musk fiercely opposes the bill, arguing that it would bankrupt America. The allies who have worked together since the early days of Mr Trump’s campaign are now at odds over the legislation.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the once-strong alliance between Mr Trump and Mr Musk began to fracture after the bill passed the House in May. Mr Musk, who previously led DOGE, criticised the bill for its projected $2.4 trillion deficit impact — a stance that triggered a public exchange of words between the two on social media.
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The former allies also got into another exchange last week, which led the tech billionaire to threaten the creation of a new political party.
Announcing the new party on X on Saturday, Mr Musk wrote, “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the American Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
He also cited a poll in which he asked whether respondents “want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system”, which gathered more than two million responses.
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“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party, and you shall have it!” Mr Musk wrote.
Trump threatened to deport Musk.
The first sign of investor unease over Mr Musk’s political ambitions surfaced later in the day, as investment firm Azoria Partners announced it would delay the launch of its Tesla-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Azoria CEO James Fishback, in a post on X, called on Tesla’s board to clarify Mr Musk’s political intentions.
He said Mr Musk’s involvement in launching a new political party has shaken shareholder confidence, particularly after expectations that he would re-focus on the company following his exit from public office in May.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump had earlier threatened to deport Mr Musk back to South Africa.
He said he could also consider withdrawing some of the American subsidies Mr Musk’s companies enjoy.
Mr Trump suggested the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), previously led by Mr Musk, should now turn its attention to examining the subsidies received by Musk’s companies.
READ ALSO: Elon Musk sells X to his AI firm
“Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!” He said in a post on Truth Social.
However, it remains unclear how much further the tensions between both parties can escalate and what influence the new party will have in the 2026 midterm elections.
On Friday, after sharing a poll online, Mr Musk laid out a possible plan to target weak spots in the House and Senate. He said the new party could aim to become the deciding vote on major laws.
“One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” he said.
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