Musk launches America Party as feud with Trump escalates
Musk in a post on X on Saturday declared the formation of the 'America Party', to 'give back' the people of the US their freedom and challenge what he called the nation's 'one-party system'.
He cited a poll, uploaded on Friday – the US's Independence Day – in which he asked whether respondents 'want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system' that has dominated US politics for some two centuries.
The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses.
'By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!' Musk wrote on Saturday.
'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,' he declared.
The move comes amid a worsening of the feud between the world's richest man and Trump over the new budget law, which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said would bankrupt the US.
Musk was Trump's main campaign financier during the 2024 election, and led the Department of Government Efficiency from the start of the president's second term, aimed at slashing government spending.
The two have since fallen out spectacularly over disagreements about the 'Big, Beautiful Bill'.
Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit.
'They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,' Musk had said.
There was no immediate comment from Trump or the White House on Musk's announcement.
Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government, and to deport the South African-born tycoon.
'We'll have to take a look,' the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who has held US citizenship since 2002.
It is not clear how much impact the new party will have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that.
On Friday, after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House of Representatives and Senate seats, and for the party to become 'the deciding vote' on key legislation.
'One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,' Musk posted on X.
All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one-third of the Senate's 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years.
Despite Musk's deep pockets, breaking the Republican-Democratic duopoly is a tall order, given that it has dominated US political life for more than 160 years, while Trump's approval ratings in polls in his second term have generally held firm above 40 percent, despite the president's often divisive policies. (Agencies)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
22 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
US to send more weapons to Ukraine, Trump says
United States President Donald Trump has said his administration will send more weapons to Ukraine after an earlier decision to halt some arms shipments drew condemnation from Kyiv and its supporters. Speaking to reporters ahead of a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC on Monday, Trump said the new shipments would be primarily comprised of 'defensive weapons'. 'We're going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves,' Trump said. 'They are getting hit very hard now.' Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed Trump's comments later on Monday, saying that Washington would provide 'additional defensive weapons' to 'ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops'. Parnell added that Trump would continue to evaluate military shipments overseas in accordance with 'our America First defence priorities'. Trump's pledge came after Russia announced on Monday that it had captured the Ukrainian village of Dachne, in Dnipropetrovsk, following a months-long push to seize territory in the central region. The decision also follows an announcement by the Pentagon last week that it would halt deliveries of some weapons, including air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, out of concern that stockpiles were running too low. After a phone call with Trump on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had agreed with his US counterpart to work to strengthen Ukraine's air defences. 'We spoke about opportunities in air defence and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies,' Zelenskyy said in a post on X. Trump on Friday described the call as 'very good' and said his administration was 'looking at' selling more more Patriot missiles to Kyiv. 'They need them for defense. I don't want to see people killed,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Israel pounds Gaza; Trump hosts Netanyahu amid push for a ceasefire
US President Donald Trump has held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, with both leaders touting their controversial proposal to push besieged Palestinians into neighbouring countries. Their meeting comes as Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians on Monday, and Israeli negotiators and Hamas held indirect talks in Qatar for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Qatar Tribune
7 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Deals made by Trump since pausing his ‘Liberation Day' tariffs remain sparse
Agencies Just over three months ago, President Donald Trump unveiled his most sweeping volley of tariffs yet — holding up large charts from the White House Rose Garden to outline new import taxes that the U.S. would soon slap on goods from nearly every country in the world. But in line with much of Trump's on-again, off-again trade policy playbook, the bulk of those 'Liberation Day' levies in April were postponed just hours after they took effectin a 90-day suspension that arrived in an apparent effort to quell global market panic and facilitate country-by-country negotiations. At that time, the administration set a lofty goal of reaching 90 trade deals in 90 days. Now, with the July 9 deadline looming, the U.S. has only announced pacts with the United Kingdom and Vietnam — as well as a 'framework″ agreement with China in a separate trade dispute. News of these deals often trickled through social media posts from the president and, even when countries on both sides of a negotiation table made more official announcements, many key details — including timing — were sparse. The Trump administration has since hinted that some trading partners might get more time for talks. Over the July 4th holiday weekend, Trump said that the U.S. would start sending letters to certain countries warning that higher tariffs could kick in Aug. 1. Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to share letters he sent to the leaders of Japan and South Korea, declaring that both countries would see 25% tariffs on goods entering the U.S. starting Aug. 1. Even with negotiations ongoing, most countries have still faced a minimum 10% levy on goods entering the U.S. over the past three months, on top of punishing new taxes targeting foreign steel and aluminum as well as auto imports. The 90-day pause pushed back additional steeper rates, which Trump calls 'reciprocal' tariffs, for dozens of nations. Here's what we know about the trade deals announced since April. On July 2, Trump announced a trade deal with Vietnam that he said would allow U.S. goods to enter the country duty-free. Vietnamese exports to the United States, by contrast, would face a 20% levy. That's less than half the 46% 'reciprocal' rate Trump proposed for Vietnamese goods back in April. But in addition to the new 20% tariff rate, Trump said the U.S. would impose a 40% tax on 'transshipping'' — targeting goods from another country that stop in Vietnam on their way to the United States. Washington complains that Chinese goods have been dodging higher U.S. tariffs by transiting through Vietnam. It wasn't immediately clear when these new rates would go into effect or whether they would come on top of any other previously-imposed levies. Like most other countries, Vietnam has faced Trump's 10% baseline tariff for the last three months. On May 8, Trump agreed to cut tariffs on British autos, steel and aluminum, among other trade pledges — while the U.K. promised to reduce levies on U.S. products like olive oil, wine and sports equipment. The deal was announced in grandiose terms by both countries, but some key details remained unknown for weeks. When the deal was announced, for example, the British government notably said that the U.S. agreed to exempt the U.K. from its then-universal 25% duties on foreign steel and aluminum — which would have effectively allowed both metals from the country to come into the U.S. duty-free. But the timing for when those cuts would actually take effect stayed up in the air for almost a month. It wasn't until early June, when Trump hiked his steel and aluminum tariffs to a punishing 50% worldwide, that the U.S. acknowledged it was time to implement the agreement. And even then, U.S. tariffs on British steel and aluminum did not go to zero. The U.K. was the only country spared from Trump's new 50% levies, but still faces 25% import taxes on the metals — and Trump said that rate could also go up on or after Wednesday. The U.K. did not receive a higher 'reciprocal' rate on April 2, but continues to face the 10% baseline its peak, Trump's new tariffs on Chinese goods totaled 145% — and China's countertariffs on American products reached 125%. But on May 12, the countries agreed to their own 90-day truce to roll back those levies to 30% and 10%, respectively. And last month, details began trickling in about a tentative trade agreement. On June 11, following talks in London, Trump announced a 'framework' for a deal. And late last month, the U.S. and China both acknowledged that some sort of agreement had been reached. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that China had agreed to make it easier for American firms to acquire Chinese magnets and rare earth minerals critical for manufacturing and microchip production. Meanwhile, without explicitly mentioning U.S. access to rare earths, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said that it would 'review and approve eligible export applications for controlled items' and that the U.S. would 'lift a series of restrictive measures it had imposed on China.' More specifics about those measures — and when they would actually go into effect — were not immediately clear. But on Friday, the Ministry of Commerce acknowledged that the U.S. was resuming exports of airplane parts, ethane and other items to China. And when Trump first announced the framework on June 11, the U.S. had said it agreed to stop seeking to revoke the visas of Chinese students on U.S. college campuses.
