
Trump Calls Musk's Formation of New Party ‘Ridiculous'
'I think it's ridiculous to start a third party,' Trump told reporters before he boarded Air Force One on his way back to Washington from his New Jersey golf club.
'It's always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion. Third parties have never worked,' he said.
Trump added, 'So he can have fun with it, but I think it's ridiculous.'
Musk, the world's richest man, spent some $270 million underwriting Trump's 2024 re-election effort and, for a time, regularly showed up at the president's side in the White House Oval Office and elsewhere.
Musk spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aimed at cutting government spending, before he pulled back his involvement in late May, saying he would now be allocating far more time to his electric vehicle company Tesla, which reported a huge drop in profit and sales worldwide since the tech tycoon made a brief venture into Trump's inner circle.
Shortly after his pull back from DOGE, the two men were exchanging bitter insults on social media after Musk criticized Trump's flagship spending bill.
As the bill made its way through Congress, Musk had threatened to form the 'America Party' if 'this insane spending bill passes.'
That bill passed the Senate by a narrow margin midday Tuesday.
In response, Musk carried out his threat and announced that he is establishing the 'America Party.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
41 minutes ago
- Arab News
Trump hosts Netanyahu in push for Gaza deal
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu for dinner at the White House on Monday as he pressed the Israeli prime minister to end the devastating Gaza war. Netanyahu's third visit since Trump's return to power comes at a crucial time, with the US president hoping to capitalize on the momentum from a recent truce between Israel and Iran. 'I don't think there is a hold up. I think things are going along very well,' Trump told reporters at the start of the dinner when asked what was preventing a peace deal. Sitting on the opposite side of a long table from the Israeli leader, Trump also voiced confidence that Hamas was willing to end the conflict in Gaza, which is entering its 22nd month. 'They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire,' Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if clashes involving Israeli soldiers would derail talks. The meeting in Washington came as Israel and Hamas held a second day of indirect talks in Qatar on an elusive ceasefire. Netanyahu meanwhile said he had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize — the US president's long-held goal — presenting him with a letter he sent to the prize committee. 'He's forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other,' Netanyahu said. But Netanyahu was more cagey on peace with the Palestinians and ruled out a full Palestinian state, saying that Israel will 'always' keep security control over the Gaza Strip. 'Now, people will say it's not a complete state, it's not a state. We don't care,' Netanyahu said. Several dozen protesters gathered near the White House as Trump and Netanyahu met, chanting slogans accusing the Israeli prime minister of 'genocide.' Trump has strongly backed key US ally and fellow conservative Netanyahu, lending US support in Israel's recent war by bombing Iran's key nuclear facilities. But at the same time he has increasingly pushed for an end to what he called the 'hell' in Gaza. Trump said on Sunday he believes there is a 'good chance' of an agreement this coming week. 'The utmost priority for the president right now in the Middle East is to end the war in Gaza and to return all of the hostages,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Leavitt said Trump wanted Hamas to agree to a US-brokered proposal 'right now' after Israel backed the plan for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on Sunday in Doha, with representatives seated in different rooms in the same building. Monday's talks ended with 'no breakthrough,' a Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations told AFP. The Hamas and Israeli delegations were due to resume talks later. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff was due to join the talks in Doha later this week in an effort to get a ceasefire over the line. The US proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel, two Palestinian sources close to the discussions had earlier told AFP. The group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel's withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system, they said. In Gaza, the civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed at least 12 people on Monday, including six in a clinic housing people displaced by the war. Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the war, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip. Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,523 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN considers the figures reliable.


Arab News
41 minutes ago
- Arab News
US to send ‘more weapons' to Ukraine: Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday the United States will send additional weapons to Ukraine, after the White House announced a halt to some arms shipments for Kyiv the previous week. 'We're going to have to send more weapons — defensive weapons primarily,' Trump told journalists at the White House. 'They're getting hit very, very hard,' he said of Ukraine, while saying he is 'not happy' with President Vladimir Putin. Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Russia's smaller neighbor in 2022 and has shown little willingness to end the conflict despite pressure from Trump. Ukraine is contending with some of Russia's largest missile and drone attacks of the three-year war, and a halt to the provision of munitions posed a potentially serious challenge for Kyiv. Under former president Joe Biden, Washington committed to providing more than $65 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. But Trump — long skeptical of assistance for Ukraine — has not followed suit, announcing no new military aid packages for Kyiv since he took office in January of this year.


Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Trump says Hamas ‘want to have that ceasefire' in Gaza
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump voiced his confidence Monday that Hamas was willing to agree a truce with Israel, as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for an end to the Gaza war. 'They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire,' Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if clashes involving Israeli soldiers would derail talks.