Elon Musk launches new political party
Musk was US President Donald Trump's biggest political donor in the 2024 election. File photo: AFP
Elon Musk, an ex-ally of US President Donald Trump, said on Saturday he had launched a new political party in the United States to challenge what the tech billionaire described as the country's "one-party system."
Musk, the world's richest person and Trump's biggest political donor in the 2024 election, had a bitter falling out with the president after leading the Republican's effort to slash spending and cut federal jobs as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
"When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," the Space X and Tesla boss posted on X, the social media platform that he owns.
"Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom."
Musk cited a poll -- posted on X on Friday, US 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!" he posted on Saturday.
The Trump-Musk feud reignited in dramatic fashion late last month as Trump pushed Republicans in Congress to ram through his massive domestic agenda in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Musk expressed fierce opposition to the legislation, and ruthlessly attacked its Republican backers for supporting "debt slavery."
He quickly vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit.
After Musk heavily criticised the flagship spending bill -- which eventually passed Congress and was signed into law -- Trump threatened to deport the tech tycoon and strip federal funds from his businesses.
"We'll have to take a look," the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa and has held US citizenship since 2002. (AFP)
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