Musk launches America Party as feud with Trump escalates

Washington DC [US], July 7: Billionaire Elon Musk has followed through on his pledge to create a new political party in the United States after President Donald Trump signed his controversial budget legislation, the so-called "One Big, Beautiful Bill", into law.
Musk in a post on X on Saturday declared the formation of the "America Party", to "give back" the people of the US their freedom and challenge what he called the nation's "one-party system".
He cited a poll, uploaded on Friday - the US's 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!" Musk wrote on Saturday.
"When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom," he declared.
The move comes amid a worsening of the feud between the world's richest man and Trump over the new budget law, which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said would bankrupt the US.
Musk was Trump's main campaign financier during the 2024 election, and led the Department of Government Efficiency from the start of the president's second term, aimed at slashing government spending.
The two have since fallen out spectacularly over disagreements about the "Big, Beautiful Bill".
Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit.
"They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth," Musk had said.
There was no immediate comment from Trump or the White House on Musk's announcement.
Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government, and to deport the South African-born tycoon.
"We'll have to take a look," the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who has held US citizenship since 2002.
It is not clear how much impact the new party will have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that.
On Friday, after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House of Representatives and Senate seats, and for the party to become "the deciding vote" on key legislation.
"One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts," Musk posted on X.
All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one-third of the Senate's 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years.
Despite Musk's deep pockets, breaking the Republican-Democratic duopoly is a tall order, given that it has dominated US political life for more than 160 years, while Trump's approval ratings in polls in his second term have generally held firm above 40 percent, despite the president's often divisive policies. (Agencies)
Source: Qatar Tribune