Musk Says Party Paperwork Is ‘False' After MAGA Melt Down
However, despite reports that Musk had already filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission Sunday to establish his so-called 'America Party,' the billionaire took to his social media platform to shut them down.
'This filing is false and has been reported as such to the FEC,' Musk wrote.
Musk's latest move comes after he pledged to hit back against Republicans for passing President Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' which is projected to add $4.5 trillion to the national debt.
Despite no paperwork being filed, Musk has still been promoting his party on X with posts like 'The America Party is needed to fight the Republican/Democrat Uniparty,' and, 'the America Party is the solution.'
Musk, who became an American citizen in 2002, claimed in a Friday post on X that his new political party would focus 'on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,' CNBC reported. Musk also holds citizenship in Canada and his native South Africa.
'By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!' Musk added in a Saturday post on X, referring to an X poll he conducted asking his followers if they would support a third party. 'Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.'
Yet many MAGA figureheads across the billionaire's social media platform don't share his enthusiasm.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took a shot at Musk's new party in an interview with CNN Sunday, noting that while the 'principles of DOGE were very popular,' the Tesla CEO 'was not.'
'I believe that the boards of directors at his various companies wanted him to come back and run those companies,' Bessent said. 'So, I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities.'
Others worry that a new party will only tip the political scales in favor of the Democrats.
'Elon launching the 'America Party; Will make it easier for Dems to win in the future!' wrote conservative Dear America founder Graham Allen. '@elonmusk this is a mistake……please listen to reason!'
'I used to think Elon was awesome. But he's become evil. Or maybe he always was evil. It's all just his ego,' wrote Ben Hart, who said he is 'waging war on wokeness' in a since-deleted tweet.
In another tweet, Hart added, 'Elon has decided to destroy America because he doesn't understand how our political system works. I agree with Elon that the BBB spends too much. But we need 60 votes in the Senate and more than a 7 seat margin in the House to do what he wants to do.'
Musk previously ripped Trump's budget bill as 'utterly insane and destructive,' suggesting it would be 'political suicide for the Republican Party.'
Not only will the bill 'destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,' he wrote, 'It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.'
In a swipe back at his former BFF, Trump suggested that his administration would continue distancing itself from Musk by reviewing the millions of dollars in contracts Musk has with the federal government that support Tesla and SpaceX, Reuters reported.
'He's upset that he's losing his EV mandate and … he's very upset about things but he can lose a lot more than that,' Trump told reporters at the White House on July 1.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Netanyahu Says He Nominated Trump for Nobel Peace Prize
(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump he nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, using a visit to the White House to further cement the pair's relationship as the US presses for a ceasefire in Gaza. Are Tourists Ruining Europe? How Locals Are Pushing Back Trump's Gilded Design Style May Be Gaudy. But Don't Call it 'Rococo.' Denver City Hall Takes a Page From NASA In California, Pro-Housing 'Abundance' Fans Rewrite an Environmental Landmark Can Mamdani Bring Free Buses to New York City? 'He's forging peace as we speak,' Netanyahu told reporters at the start of a dinner with Trump and other top officials on Monday. 'I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize Committee.' 'Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful,' Trump said. Netanyahu is not the first foreign leader to nominate Trump, who has long coveted a Nobel. Last month, Pakistan said it would nominate the US leader, underscoring how foreign leaders understand the best way to get what they want is to shower him with praise. In his letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, dated July 1, Netanyahu said Trump's efforts had 'brought about dramatic change and created new opportunities to expand the circle of peace and normalization.' Netanyahu cited the Abraham Accords, which saw the likes of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain formalize ties with Israel during Trump's first term. Trump has long expressed irritation about the fact that his first-term predecessor, Barack Obama, won the Nobel Prize in 2009 — a controversial decision that came before Obama surged US troops in Afghanistan. Netanyahu's visit to the White House — his third since Trump took office in January — comes as the two leaders also take a victory lap on the heels of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. The US joined Israel's military campaign against Iran and carried out a series of missile strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump claimed the sites were 'obliterated' but damage assessments are continuing and the whereabouts of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile remains unclear. Trump helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Iran to end the fighting and is now pressuring the Islamic Republic to return to negotiations. At the dinner, Trump said the US and Iran were set to meet soon and reiterated that he's open to lifting sanctions on Iran. His envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters that the US and Iran would meet within the next week. 'I would love to be able to, at the right time, take those sanctions off, give them a chance at rebuilding,' Trump said at the dinner with Netanyahu. 'Because I'd like to see Iran build itself back up in a peaceful manner, and not going around saying 'Death to America, Death to the USA, Death to Israel,' as they were doing.' Netanyahu is also visiting Washington as the Trump administration pushes for a halt to the war in Gaza, with the US president raising hopes for a deal that could stop the fighting and see the release of hostages still being held by Hamas. Trump said last week that a ceasefire could be 'close' to the conflict that has raged since the attack by Hamas on Israel in October 2023 and which has threatened to further destabilize the region. Trump and Netanyahu suggested a ceasefire was in reach, and the Israeli leader hinted that he would be willing to expand the Abraham Accords that normalized Israel's relations with several regional nations. 'I think we can work out a peace between us and the rest of the Middle East with President Trump's leadership,' Netanyahu said. Netanyahu has accepted a proposal put forward by Trump that would pause fighting in Gaza for 60 days and see the return of some hostages. Hamas said last week it had responded positively to the proposed deal and was ready to immediately enter negotiations. International pressure is mounting on Israel to end its war in Gaza as more than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed in the military campaign, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Aid agencies are warning the 2 million residents of Gaza are at risk of famine. Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, still holds about 50 hostages, of whom Israel believes 20 are still alive. (Updates with picture of letter Netanyahu sent to the Nobel Committee, and with tout.) SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too 'Telecom Is the New Tequila': Behind the Celebrity Wireless Boom For Brazil's Criminals, Coffee Beans Are the Target Sperm Freezing Is a New Hot Market for Startups Pistachios Are Everywhere Right Now, Not Just in Dubai Chocolate ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Oil Dips as Traders Take Stock of US Tariffs and OPEC+ Shift
(Bloomberg) -- Oil slipped for the third time in four days as investors focused on the fallout from a wave of US trade levies and a decision by OPEC+ to restore more of the group's idled capacity. Are Tourists Ruining Europe? How Locals Are Pushing Back Trump's Gilded Design Style May Be Gaudy. But Don't Call it 'Rococo.' Denver City Hall Takes a Page From NASA In California, Pro-Housing 'Abundance' Fans Rewrite an Environmental Landmark Can Mamdani Bring Free Buses to New York City? Brent dipped toward $69 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was below $68. President Donald Trump threatened new tariff rates on trading partners, while suggesting that he was still open to negotiations. The duties on countries including Japan and South Korea won't take effect until at least Aug. 1. 'Traders are watching Trump's new tariff threats and global growth risks, which could soften demand,' said Haris Khurshid, chief investment officer at Karobaar Capital LP. 'Looking ahead, we should be paying attention to any new OPEC+ signals about extending or adjusting supply cuts.' Oil closed higher on Monday after sliding at the open following a decision by OPEC+ to boost output more than expected in August. The group cited summer demand as one reason for their optimism that the barrels could be absorbed, and Saudi Arabia raised the price of its main crude grade to Asia. The oil market has been volatile in recent weeks after the war between Israel and Iran, with a fragile truce now in place, but tensions in the Middle East are starting to rise again following fresh attacks in the Red Sea. A second vessel was targeted near Yemen on Monday, hours after Iranian-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for an earlier attack on a ship in the same area. 'These attacks raise supply-chain costs and insurance premiums for oil cargoes,' said Khurshid. 'But unless there's a major supply disruption, the impact stays mostly at the margins.' Elsewhere, there are signs of tightness showing in the diesel market, as traders grapple with a summer supply squeeze. US stockpiles are at the lowest seasonally since 1996, while Europe benchmark futures signal a tighter market than during the height of the recent Israel-Iran conflict. SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too 'Telecom Is the New Tequila': Behind the Celebrity Wireless Boom For Brazil's Criminals, Coffee Beans Are the Target Sperm Freezing Is a New Hot Market for Startups Pistachios Are Everywhere Right Now, Not Just in Dubai Chocolate ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jon Stewart and Steve Kroft Break Down Paramount's $16 Million Trump Settlement, Former '60 Minutes' Correspondent Slams Deal as ‘Tribute to the King'
On this week's episode of 'The Daily Show,' host Jon Stewart was joined by journalist Steve Kroft to discuss Paramount's $16 million settlement with Donald Trump, a deal the former '60 Minutes' correspondent called 'tribute to the king.' Stewart opened the interview by asking Kroft what it meant for a news organization like '60 Minutes' to pay such a large settlement to the president, offering the word 'devastating' as a descriptor for internal attitudes. Kroft agreed that 'devastating' was a 'good word' for the situation. More from Variety Trump Claims '60 Minutes' Settlement Is Worth as Much as $35 Million Including 'Advertising'; Paramount Denies Deal Includes PSAs Dan Rather on Paramount's $16 Million Trump Settlement: 'It Was a Sell-Out to Extortion by the President' (EXCLUSIVE) California Gov. Gavin Newsom Says Paramount's Trump Settlement 'Seems Transactional,' Tells Media Companies to 'Do the Right Thing' Amid Threats 'I think there's a lot of fear,' Kroft said. 'Fear of losing their job, fear of what's happening to the country, fear of losing the First Amendment. All of those things.' When asked why he thinks Paramount paid the settlement, Kroft cleverly dodged the question, stating that 'a couple of congressmen think that it was bribery.' He later let his own thoughts be known, calling the deal 'a shakedown.' 'That's what I call it,' he added. 'Some people call it extortion.' He later explained that many in the journalism community feel similarly about Paramount's decision to pay up. 'It's not just me or '60 Minutes' or you that think it's a shakedown,' Kroft said. 'It's pretty much every reporter that's looked at this case and said, 'This is ridiculous. It's going to be thrown out of any court that it goes before.' Except maybe one in Amarillo, [Texas], and that's where they brought the suit.' When asked how the media should respond to such a historic development, Kroft took the opportunity to point out that Trump didn't get everything he wanted from the Paramount camp. 'This lawsuit, the one thing that they didn't get, Trump didn't get, he didn't get an apology, and he had been pushing really hard,' he explained. 'He was demanding an apology and wanted CBS to admit that it had made a mistake, so he could use that against [them] and erode the credibility of the program and the network. But he did not get it, and that was, that's important.' Trump filed a lawsuit against Paramount and CBS days before the 2024 presidential election. In it, he alleged that a '60 Minutes' interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's former presidential opponent, violated a Texas consumer-protection law and misled voters. He originally asked for $10 billion in damages, but then upped it to $20 billion in an amendment. Trump thought the edited interview made Harris look 'more presidential' and claimed that it was 'the biggest Broadcasting SCANDAL in History!!!' All against the backdrop of Paramount's $8 billion deal with Skydance, which awaits approval from the Trump-controlled FCC, the studio agreed to pay the president $16 million rather than fight on against a lawsuit they had previously slammed as 'meritless.' Watch Stewart's entire interview with Kroft below. Best of Variety Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?