Trump yesterday called Elon Musk’s plans to launch a new political party “ridiculous,” telling reporters that the effort by the former White House adviser and Tesla CEO will likely “never work.”
“I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party. We have a tremendous success with the Republican Party,” Trump said, minutes before boarding Air Force One. “It’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion.”
Trump sharpened his attack on the billionaire in a Truth Social post last evening, repeating an assertion that Musk’s recent opposition to the Republican party stems from the elimination of a tax credit for electric vehicles in the recent spending bill.
“I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,” Trump wrote.
Last month, Musk said he would launch a third party, named the “America Party,” if Republicans successfully passed legislation to fund Trump’s agenda, which they did last week. The Tesla CEO had railed against the bill for months due to its estimated trillion-dollar increase to the national deficit.
“What the heck was the point of @DOGE if he’s just going to increase the debt by $5 trillion??,” Musk wrote in response to a post commenting on Trump’s Truth Social message. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation will increase the deficit by more than $3 trillion over the next decade.
Following the bill’s passage, Musk on Saturday announced he’d move forward with the idea after a poll he shared on X found a majority of respondents supported the venture.
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk wrote on X. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Trump in his remarks to reporters yesterday said the new party formation will likely be ineffective.
“Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous,” Trump said.
