President Donald Trump and billionaire inventor Elon Musk had a major falling out last month after the tech magnate publicly campaigned against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination.”
The world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest man subsequently traded barbs online — Trump threatening to terminate Musk’s governmental subsidies and contracts and Musk both threatening to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and suggesting that “the real reason” the Epstein files had not been made public was because Trump was somehow implicated in them.
There were, however, some signs of a possible reconciliation.
Trump, for instance, said of Musk during a June 9 press conference, “We had a great relationship and I wish him well — very well, actually.” Musk, expressed regret over some of his more incendiary posts aimed at the president, deleted them, and stated, “They went too far.”
Musk has since crossed the Rubicon, kicking off an anti-MAGA campaign and announcing the formation of a new political party he says “is needed to fight the Republican/Democrat Uniparty.”
‘The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS.’
The announcement was poorly received by many inside the MAGA coalition. Trump was especially critical of Musk’s announcement, noting Sunday evening on Truth Social, “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.”
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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States — The System seems not designed for them,” continued Trump. “The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds!”
As Trump indicated, third parties — such as the Libertarian or Green parties, failed Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s Forward Party, and even President Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party — have long proven unable to make a meaningful splash. It certainly does not help Musk that 57% of voters already have an unfavorable opinion of him, according to a national Quinnipiac University poll released last month.
In addition to suggesting that Musk’s animus was fueled by the BBB’s elimination of “the ridiculous Electric Vehicle Mandate, which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time,” Trump indicated that Musk was angry that he pulled his nomination for Jared Isaacman to run NASA.
“I was surprised to learn that he was a blue blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before,” wrote Trump. “Elon probably was, also. I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life.”
It appears that Musk, who spent more than $270 million last year in hopes of getting Trump elected and lost key tax credits for Tesla as a result of the BBB, has long entertained the idea of forming another party.
While recognizing that it was “not realistic,” he suggested in May 2022 that “a party more moderate on all issues than either Reps or Dems would be ideal.”
It’s clear the billionaire began taking the idea more seriously in recent weeks.
On June 5, he asked his global audience on X, “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?” Of the over 5.6 million people worldwide who responded, 80.4% said, “Yes.”
On Independence Day, Musk ran a similar poll, this time asking his followers in and outside of America whether he should create the America Party and promising to do so the day after Trump signed his administration’s signature legislative achievement. Over 1.24 million users cast votes, with 65.4% saying, “Yes.”
Musk’s plan for 2026, he said, is to “laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts. Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”
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Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Tesla investors appear unsettled by Musk’s grand strategy. Shares in the company fell nearly 8% in pre-market trading.
“Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that most Tesla investors want him to take during this crucial period for Tesla,” Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote. The moves, he added, are “just causing exhaustion from many investors.”
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Maga, Donald trump, Elon musk, America party, Republican party, Republican, Tesla, Politics