The conflict between Republican President Donald Trump and his major campaign investor Elon Musk took another fractious turn on Saturday when space and car billionaires announced the formation of a new political party and said Trump’s “big and beautiful” tax bill would bankrupt America.
A day after asking his followers on the X platform if they should create a new US party, Musk declared in a post on Saturday that “Today, the American Party is formed to return your freedom.”
“If it’s two or a few times, you’ll have it because you want a new political party!” he wrote.
The announcement from Musk comes after Trump signed his self-styled “big and beautiful” tax and spending bill on Friday.
Musk, who has become the world’s wealthiest man thanks to Tesla’s automotive company and SpaceX satellite company, spent hundreds of millions on reelection of Trump and led government efficiency from the start of his second term, the president aimed at cutting government spending.
The first signs of investors’ complaints about the mask’s announcement continued later that day. Investment company Azoria Partners will postpone Tesla’s list of exchange sales funds, Azoria CEO James Fishback said in an X post.
Fishback has called on Tesla’s board to clarify Musk’s political ambitions, saying the new party will undermine the confidence that shareholders had after quitting government services in May.
Musk previously said he would start a new party and spend money to remove lawmakers who supported the bill.
Earlier this week, Trump threatened to cut off billions of dollars in grants mask businesses receive from the federal government.
Republicans have expressed concern about Musk’s biggest off-a-a-award feud, which could undermine their chances of protecting a majority in the 2026 medium-term legislative elections.
Asked what was one of the things he decided to attack him from loving Trump, Musk said, “To increase the deficit from the already insane $2T under Biden to 2.5T. This will make the country go bankrupt.”
There were no immediate comments from Trump or the White House regarding the mask announcement.
The feud with Trump is often described between the world’s wealthiest and the world’s most powerful, leading to several sudden falls on Tesla’s stock price.
After Trump’s November reelection, stocks surged, reaching a high of more than $488 in December before losing more than half of its value in April, closing at $315.35 last week.
Despite his deep pockets of masks, breaking the Republican democratic double layer would be a tall order given his dominance of American political life for over 160 years, but his second-term poll approval rating is generally above 40% despite his often divisive policies.
(Source: Reuters)