New York, July 6: US tech billionaire Elon Musk said he has formed a new political party to give Americans their freedom back, after a dramatic falling out with Donald Trump.
He announced his plans on his social media platform X that he had set up the ‘America Party’ to challenge the two-party system in the country.
“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,” Musk said in a post on X.
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said.
Musk did not say where the party may be registered. To legally form the party would require it to register with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The most recent FEC filings showed no indication that has happened, CNN said.
Musk first raised the prospect of forming a party during his public feud with Trump, which saw him leave his role in the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and engage in a vicious public spat with his former ally.
During that row, Musk posted a poll on X asking users if there should be a new political party in the US.
Referencing that poll in his post on Saturday, Musk wrote: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!
Musk, the largest individual donor to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, was a close adviser to Trump until recently.
Musk, who spearheaded the Trump administration’s push to cut government waste, had criticised Trump’s “big beautiful” tax and spending bill because of estimates that it would add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit.
The legislation was narrowly passed by Congress and signed into law by the president this week.
Musk’s criticism of the bill was the catalyst for a major falling out between the two men last month.
The world’s richest man has indicated he wants a party that is fiscally conservative and reins in spending, but has offered few other details about what the party’s platform would be.
The two-party system in the United States has long been criticised by both registered Democrats and registered Republicans, but efforts in the last century to form a third party have shown little success.
Musk said in other posts to social media this week that his party would become an active political force during next year’s midterm elections and that it would initially focus on supporting candidates in just a handful of House and Senate races.
Trump, in turn, has made threats against Musk and said earlier this week the government may reconsider its massive contracts with Musk’s companies. Trump also described the Department of Government Efficiency, which the billionaire previously helmed, as a monster that may “go back and eat Elon.” (PTI)
