Elon Musk has been busy. Since he decided to sever his relations with Trump (you remember him saying that he “loved Trump as much as a straight man could love another man” right?) it’s been necessary to rethink the entire political landscape. Elon has decided that a new political party is called for. So he did a poll on Twitter and lo and behold, the vast majority of those who bothered with the poll told Elon that a new political party was in fact in order. “The people have spoken,” Elon tells us. And so The American Party (TAP) is born. At least in Elon’s mind.
“The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America to represent the 80% in the middle! And exactly 80% of people agree. This is fate,” Musk wrote, citing numbers from his survey.
He followed up with a potential name for the group, “The America Party.”
In recent days, Musk has railed against Trump for suggesting the United States increase its national debt by $4 trillion as proposed in the bill.
The tech giant said it “undermines” all the work he did at the Department of Government Efficiency, geared towards reducing government spending.
However, Trump said the Tesla CEO was mad over slashes to electric vehicle incentives instead of other clauses in the legislation.
Whatever the rationale, we are here now, and Musk wants to sell TAP. Can he, is the burning question?
Starting a new political party is easier said than done. The Democratic and Republican parties, and some of the larger third parties, already have ballot access in virtually every state, so an upstart party that hopes to be competitive would need to navigate a web of state-by-state rules to get its candidates on the ballot.
And while Musk — the world’s richest person — is legally allowed to pour unlimited money into his America PAC because it is organized as an independent super PAC, donations to formal political parties are capped at well under $1 million, per the Federal Election Commission’s contribution limits for 2025-2026 federal elections.
It’s not clear how serious Musk is about the idea of breaking with the Republican Party. Later Friday, the billionaire replied “Ok” to a person who argued “the best bang for your buck” is to get involved in GOP primaries. He also seemed to entertain a post that suggested reforming one of the main parties “from the inside out” instead of starting a third party, replying “Hmm.”
Still, Musk’s musings about starting a new political party could signal he plans to stay engaged in politics, and may try to challenge Mr. Trump’s influence.
Musk said last month he planned on dialing back his political spending generally, saying at the time that he didn’t “see a reason” to keep putting his money into politics, though he left open the possibility of getting involved again. His time leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency also came to an end last week, with Mr. Trump publicly expressing support.
But Musk began directly challenging Mr. Trump on Tuesday, calling the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a sprawling domestic policy bill backed by Mr. Trump — a “disgusting abomination” and urging lawmakers to vote against it. The two men publicly sparred on Thursday, with Mr. Trump threatening to cut off subsidies to Musk’s companies, while Musk claimed the president was ungrateful for the hundreds of millions he poured into helping the 2024 Trump campaign.
Musk entered the congressional fray at a delicate moment for the GOP. The party’s domestic policy bill narrowly passed the House last month, but it still needs to go through the Senate, and if the upper chamber makes any changes, it will need to head back to the House again.
Musk offered a pointed suggestion Thursday afternoon to any congressional Republicans who may be unsure of whether to side with him or the president, writing on X: “Trump has 3.5 years left as President, but I will be around for 40+ years.”
Not at the rate you’re asking your liver and kidneys to process Ketamine, but that’s an issue beside the point. The point is that Musk has thrown down the gauntlet and that’s problematic for Trump in the short term and the GOP in the long term. And I don’t believe Musk will be here for forty plus years. That’s a fantasy. Look at people who live into their nineties and you’ll find that they are people of clean living habits, no recreational drugs, little if any alcohol and calm temperament. That does not describe Musk.
But maybe he figures he can buy his way into old age. You can, yes. But not with money. With right living. Let’s just see what Musk does the next one or two elections. That will speak for itself.
