Donald Trump called Elon Musk’s decision to start and bankroll a new US political party “ridiculous” on Sunday. “Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it but I think it’s ridiculous,” the president told reporters traveling with him back to the White House from his New Jersey golf club, The Guardian reported.
He then elaborated, at great length, in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,” essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,” the president wrote. “He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never had success in the United States.”
“The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS,” Trump added. He then went on to claim that Musk was motivated by discontent over his plan to end subsidies to promote the purchase of electric vehicles.
Mashable reported: President Donald Trump has responded to news that Elon Musk is starting his own political party, calling the endeavor “ridiculous”.
“I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party,” Trump said on Sunday. “We have a tremendous success with the Republican Party. The Democrats have lose their way, but it’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion.”
The U.S. does technically have more than two political parties, with other parties including the Green Party and Libertarians. However, the Democratic and Republican parties overwhelmingly dominate, resulting in a two-party system.
Trump also addressed the matter via his Truth Social account, again claiming that the Tesla CEO is upset with him for ending an alleged “EV mandate “which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time,” No such law has ever existed. However, Trump had dismantled incentives encouraging adoption of vehicles, including $7,500 tax credit for drivers who buy a new EV.
Musk announced his new “America Party” on Saturday, after running a poll on X asking whether he should create it. Of the 1.2 million respondents, approximately 65 percent answered in the affirmative.
CNBC reported: U.S. President Trump lashed out against Elon Musk after he formed a new political party, calling the move “ridiculous,” and saying that the tech billionaire had gone “completely off the rails.”
Musk said in a post Saturday on X that he had set up the “American Party” to compete against the Republican and Democratic parties. The billionaire had teased for weeks the idea of a new political party, taking on Trump over the tax and spending plans that he said would bankrupt the economy.
Disagreement over the spending bill had led to a dramatic falling out between Trump and Musk, souring the symbiotic relationship which saw Musk donate hundreds of millions of dollars boost Trump’s campaign a second term.