'Train wreck': Trump slams Musk after billionaire announces new political party
"I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks," Trump wrote on social media July 6. "He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States."
Musk announced the formation of the "America Party" on July 5, the day after Trump signed his mega-bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects the legislation will increase the national debt by $3.4 trillion, which Musk as lambasted.
"When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," Musk wrote on his social media platform X on July 5. "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom."
Trump criticized third parties in his July 6 post.
"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," Trump wrote.
Musk − the world's richest person with a worth of $405 billion, according to Forbes − spent nearly $290 million to help Trump and other Republicans get elected. In the opening months of Trump's presidency, Musk led the effort to slash federal agencies through the Department of Government Efficiency.
The two have feuded in recent weeks as Musk strongly criticized Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which includes tax cuts, increased spending on immigration enforcement and the military and deep spending cuts in Medicaid. The bill increases the debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
Musk has threatened to boost primary challengers against those who supported the bill, which included all but two Republicans in the House and three in the Senate.
"Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!" Musk wrote before Trump signed the legislation. "And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth."
Musk had taken steps to repair his strained relationship with the president ‒ including personally apologizing for insults he made during his combative exit from the Trump administration last month - before the new round of sparring.
Musk's announcement of a new political party comes after he suggested in May that he would cease his political spending as he shifts his attention back to his companies Tesla and SpaceX.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump slams Elon Musk after "America Party" announcement
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