‘Train wreck’: Trump slams Musk’s ‘ridiculous’ new political party

3 hours ago 1

By James Oliphant and Daniel Trotta

July 7, 2025 — 11.25am

Washington: US President Donald Trump launched new barbs at Elon Musk by describing the tech billionaire’s plans to form a new political party “ridiculous”.

A day after Musk escalated his feud with Trump and announced the formation of a new US political party, the Republican president was asked about it before boarding Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, as he returned to Washington upon visiting his nearby golf club.

US President Donald Trump looks up at the American flag outside the White House on Sunday.

“I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party. We have a tremendous success with the Republican Party. The Democrats have lost their way, but it’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion,” Trump told reporters on Sunday Washington time.

“It really seems to have been developed for two parties. Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous.”

Shortly after, speaking about Musk, Trump posted further comments on his Truth Social platform, and said: “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.”

Musk announced on Saturday that he was establishing the “America Party” in response to Trump’s tax-cut and spending bill, which Musk said would bankrupt the country.

“What the heck was the point of @DOGE if he’s just going to increase the debt by $US5 trillion ($7.6 trillion)??” Musk wrote on X on Sunday, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency agency he briefly led.

Critics have said the bill will damage the US economy by significantly adding to the federal budget deficit. Musk said his new party would in next year’s midterm elections look to unseat Republican lawmakers in Congress who backed the sweeping measure known as the “big, beautiful bill”.

Some Trump allies fear Musk’s move could split the Republican Party.

Laura Loomer, a leading MAGA influencer, said the move could trigger Republican defections and split the party’s base. “I predict Tucker Carlson, MTG [Marjorie Taylor Greene] and Thomas Massie will join the new ‘America Party’ to spite President Trump,” she posted on X, adding that Carlson, the conservative commentator, was “probably” going to run for president in 2028.

Elon Musk has escalated his feud with Trump and announced the formation of a new US political party.

However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted Musk’s party would pose no threat. “Look, the principles of DOGE were very popular. I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not,” he told CNN on Sunday.

Musk spent millions of dollars underwriting Trump’s 2024 re-election effort and, for a time, regularly showed up at the president’s side in the White House Oval Office and elsewhere.

However, their disagreement over the spending bill led to an acrimonious falling out that Musk briefly tried – unsuccessfully – to repair.

Trump has said Musk is unhappy because the measure, which Trump signed into law on Friday, takes away green-energy credits for Tesla’s electric vehicles. The president has threatened to pull billions of dollars that Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX, receive in government contracts and subsidies in response to criticism.

Trump on Sunday also said that the Musk ally the president initially named to lead NASA would have presented a conflict of interest.

In his social media comments, Trump said it was “inappropriate” of Musk to have named Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator considering Musk’s business with the space agency.

In December, Trump named Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut, to lead NASA, but withdrew the nomination on May 31, before his Senate confirmation vote and without explanation.

Trump, who has yet to announce a new NASA nominee, on Sunday confirmed media reports he disapproved of Isaacman’s previous support for Democratic politicians.

Jared Isaacman was nominated by Musk to lead NASA, until Trump disapproved of the recommendation.

“I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“My Number One charge is to protect the American Public!”

Musk’s announcement of a new party political immediately brought a rebuke from investment firm Azoria Partners, which said it would postpone the listing of its Azoria Tesla Convexity exchange-traded fund because the party’s creation posed “a conflict with [Musk’s] full-time responsibilities as CEO”. Azoria was set to launch the Tesla fund this week.

Azoria chief executive James Fishback posted on X several critical comments about the new party and reiterated his support for Trump.

“I encourage the Board to meet immediately and ask Elon to clarify his political ambitions and evaluate whether they are compatible with his full-time obligations to Tesla as CEO,” Fishback said.

Reuters

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