3 big questions about Elon Musk's third party

The Hill

08-07-2025

While Republicans are largely dismissing billionaire Elon Musk's pledge to create an 'America Party' for now, he could pose headaches for the GOP in the midterms if he sticks with building a new third party.
There are big questions about the lasting influence of the billionaire's latest whim, though — and plenty of skeptics of the America Party gaining any staying power or meaningful influence, with President Trump among them.
What's the platform? Will anyone support it? And could it spoil GOP candidates in the midterms?
For the sake of analysis, I'm assuming that Musk — who only got heavily involved in national electoral politics last year — will actually go through with forming a new party. (It hasn't formally been created yet; Musk said a screenshot of one Federal Election Commission filing that circulated over the weekend is inauthentic.)
Musk's zealous opposition to rising national debt is one factor fueling his idea for a third party. And even in the last few days, Musk has responded approvingly on the social platform X, which he owns, to content from and about libertarian-leaning politicians such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Argentinian President Javier Milei, and he's reposted pro-libertarian content.
Could there be, then, a coalition formed with the existing Libertarian Party?
'We would definitely be open to talking to the America Party about a coalition, because we do have ballot access in the most states,' Libertarian Party National Committee Chair Steven Nekhaila told me — adding that many libertarians are disappointed in Trump despite supporting him in 2024.
Aside from Musk's desire to resolve the national debt, here is what we can glean about the America Party's platform based on Musk's posts: It would embrace Bitcoin. It would support gun rights, with Musk saying 'the Second Amendment is sacred.' Musk shared a post saying it would support free speech, support tech innovation, lessen energy regulation and support 'pronatalist' policies aimed at increasing the birth rate.
But Musk has also indicated the party might be more centrist, saying the 'America Party is the solution' in response to a post arguing centrism is now considered radical.
And if candidates are in support of green energy tax incentives — such as the kind Musk opposed the rollback of in the 'big, beautiful bill' — that could conflict with the Libertarian Party's principles.
There has long been broad support for a third major party, reaching a high of 63 percent support in a 2023 Gallup survey before dipping back to 58 percent in 2024.
But it's not clear the ideas being pushed by Musk could capture that broad group.
CNN's Harry Enten calculated that voters who like Musk and dislike the GOP add up to a whopping 4 percent.
And Musk's signature project in the Trump administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), became politically toxic. A March 2025 Fox News poll found that 58 percent of voters disapproved of the job Musk did with DOGE.
'Elon claims that they're fighting over the 80% of people who don't necessarily agree with Republicans or Democrats. And while I do think that's a worthwhile endeavor, I think it's also important to point out that the moderates are also the least loyal in terms of who they vote for,' the Libertarian Party's Nekhaila said. 'So unless they come out with a strong platform that's more of a populist type platform, it's hard to say what their constituents are going to look like.'
So far, Republicans aren't taking Musk's America Party threats seriously.
Asked about Musk's America Party threatening GOP candidates, one GOP strategist texted: 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.' Another GOP strategist said that national Republicans are not aren't seeing it as a serious problem, expecting that the base of voters loyal to Trump would lock out any serious challenge.
Musk-backed candidates don't have to have a real shot at winning to give Republicans headaches, though. In 2024, for instance, Republicans largely saw Libertarian Party candidates as spoiling some races. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) won by 0.64 percentage points, while the Libertarian candidate in that race earned 4.1 percent support; Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) won by 1.7 points, while the Libertarian candidate earned 2.6 percent support.
And Musk is eyeing the midterms, where he could complicate competitive races. 'Backing a candidate for president is not out of the question, but the focus for the next 12 months is on the House and the Senate,' he said Sunday in a post on X.
'Elon's time would be better spent going to Mars, advancing Starlink, Neuralink, and making fast cars. Not giving Democrats an edge,' the first GOP strategist said. 'It's a move that would massively backfire on him. After all it was Democrats who torched his Tesla dealerships when they got mad at him a few months ago. Why reward bad behavior with even more power?'
But if Musk is going to go through with creating an actual new party infrastructure rather than supporting independent or other minor-party candidates, there are a lot of time-consuming and expensive steps that he has to take: collecting signatures to create his party and win ballot access, with requirements different in every state; recruiting candidates; beating back likely lawsuits from the major parties challenging ballot access.
Musk brushed off those logistical challenges. 'Not hard tbh,' he posted.
Further reading: Can Elon's America Party succeed where others have failed? From Nate Silver
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Massie's rhetorical ceasefire negotiations with Trump
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wants a rhetorical ceasefire with President Trump — and while he was initially optimistic the president would stop attacking him, he might not be in the clear.
My colleagues Mychael Schnell and Mike Lillis scooped last week that in the wee hours of the morning, as a group of Republicans held up Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' of tax cut and spending priorities, Trump spoke to a group of holdouts who were preventing the bill from advancing.
Massie, one of those who was a 'no' on the procedural vote to tee up the bill, suggested he would flip his vote and allow the bill to go forward if Trump — who has called for Massie to be defeated in 2026 over his opposition to the bill — agreed to stop attacking him.
Massie flipped on the procedural vote but voted 'no' on the underlying bill.
Immediately after the vote, Massie exclusively told me that he was optimistic about his relationship with Trump.
'The president and I had a cordial conversation last night. It turns out we communicate a lot better over the phone than we do on Twitter,' Massie said. 'I think we're going to work better together going forward, and out of respect to the president, I would let him characterize the phone call.'
So, is there a truce?
White House officials didn't get back to me or my colleagues when we asked if Trump committed to stop attacking Massie in exchange for his flip on the procedural vote.
But maybe Massie shouldn't be so optimistic after all. Later in the evening, after the bill passed, Trump on Truth Social shared a polling memo from his pollster John McLaughlin that found Massie 'would lose to 'a candidate who is a staunch supporter of President Trump and the America First Agenda' 53% to 19%.'
Influencers rage at Epstein memo
After an internal review, Trump's Department of Justice said in a memo that now-deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein actually did kill himself, releasing prison surveillance footage to back up its claim; that here is no 'client list' or evidence he blackmailed prominent individuals; and that it would not disclose any further material about the case.
'One of our highest priorities is combatting child exploitation and bringing justice to victims. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends,' the memo said.
Right-wing influencers who have long pushed Epstein conspiracy theories are furious.
They're pointing back to Attorney General Pam Bondi months ago suggesting that the list was 'sitting on my desk for review.'
'Was she lying then or is she lying now?' filmmaker Robby Starbuck posted.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Bondi was referring to all the paperwork relating to Epstein.
'Independent journalist' Breanna Morello quipped: 'If no 'client list' exists, Ghislaine Maxwell should be released. Allow her to speak. I bet they won't!'
And influencer Mike Cernovich warned: 'No one is believing the Epstein coverup, @realDonaldTrump. This will be part of your legacy. There's still time to change it!'
Read more from my colleague Miriam Waldvogel: MAGA influencers fume over DOJ's Epstein memo. Read here.
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