Tesla CEO and former White House adviser Elon Musk on July 5 announced that he would create a new political party following a split with President Donald Trump over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last week.
What Musk Has Said
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk wrote on July 5 on X, the social media company he owns. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”The formation of new political parties is a common occurrence, but they generally struggle to pull any significant support away from the Republican and Democratic parties, which have dominated U.S. politics for more than 160 years.
In early June, Musk engaged in an escalating public feud with Trump over the Big Beautiful Bill. Trump warned Musk that he could pull federal subsidies for his companies, while Musk suggested he would decommission the SpaceX Dragon rocket system that is used to transport NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. He later said he wouldn’t do so.
After several days of back and forth between the two, Musk and Trump reconciled, with Musk expressing regret for some of his posts targeting the president. Trump also said he appreciated Musk’s comment in a New York Post interview but also said that he believes Musk is actually upset with the bill because it terminates federal subsidies for electric vehicles, which Tesla relies upon.
Musk then took a roughly three-week hiatus from commenting on U.S. politics on social media before he again criticized the Big Beautiful Bill as it reached the Senate. Again, Trump signaled that the federal government via DOGE could look into federal subsidies that Musk’s companies were granted.
“It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country—the PORKY PIG PARTY!” Musk wrote on June 30 as the Senate considered the measure.
White House Responds
Trump broke his silence on July 6 with a post on Truth Social, suggesting the new political party is the latest example of how Musk has gone “completely ‘off the rails.’”Multiple FEC Filings
As of the morning of July 6, there were multiple political parties listed in the Federal Election Commission (FEC) database that had been formed in the hours since Musk’s July 5 X post with versions of “America Party” or “DOGE” or “X” in the name, or with Musk listed among people affiliated with the entity.But many of the filings appeared to be inauthentic.
An FEC filing that was shared frequently on X on July 5 listed Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja as the party’s treasurer, included a 1-800 phone number that was directed to Tesla’s investor relations portal, and included the SpaceX headquarters address in California.
Musk’s Plan
The Tesla CEO wrote on X that the America Party would go after several seats in Congress, with the goal of keeping either Democrats or Republicans from gaining a majority in Congress.While Musk has not specifically laid out a party platform, based on his very recent public comments, Musk’s party would likely focus on slashing the national debt.
