Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has formally launched a new political party, the “America Party,” to widespread criticism from Donald Trump’s former treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who called on Musk to avoid playing politics and return to running his companies.
Bessent, on CNN’s State of the Union, said he was worried that Musk’s brief tenure as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) during Trump’s second term had damaged his public reputation and investor support. “The boards of his companies probably want him back full-time,” Bessent said, pointing to Tesla’s decline in sales and the unpopularity of Doge’s draconian cuts to spending.
The criticism came after Musk’s late Saturday evening announcement of the America Party through X, the company that he owns. Disillusioned with Trump’s recent $3.3 trillion tax-and-spend measure, Musk blamed Democrats and Republicans alike for “bankrupting the country” and proclaimed: “Today, the America Party is born to give you back your freedom.
The party will challenge a handful of Senate seats and some House districts, potentially deciding the balance of power in a closely divided Congress. Musk offered few specifics, but indicated the new movement had the potential to redefine US politics.
Musk’s feud with Trump has escalated, including public exchanges of insults regarding Epstein-related claims and threats by Trump to take away SpaceX subsidies. Although their short-lived reconciliation in May, tensions seem to have flared up again.
Musk, who dropped more than $275 million on Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, now presents himself as a disruptor to the historical two-party system. Although one can’t say how far the America Party will actually reach, Musk has made it definitive that he plans to disrupt the political establishment.
There has been no response from the White House to Musk’s announcement.