Trump has hit out at Elon Musk’s newly launched political outfit, calling the billionaire’s plan to start a third party “ridiculous” and confusing
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US President Donald Trump on Sunday mocked billionaire Elon Musk’s plan to launch a new political party, calling it “ridiculous” and saying it would only create more confusion. Musk recently announced the formation of the America Party in the US.
“I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, en route to the White House. “Starting a third party just adds to confusion. He can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous.”
He added, “Third parties have never worked. He can have fun with it.”
Further taking a dig at Musk, once a close ally of the president, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social:
“I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks. He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States – The System seems not designed for them. The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds!”
Trump also accused Elon Musk of seeking special favors by asking him to nominate Musk’s friend, Jared Isaacman, as NASA administrator. After Musk left his role as a special government employee during Trump’s administration, Isaacman’s nomination was withdrawn.
Earlier on Sunday, Trump’s treasury secretary said Musk should focus on running his businesses instead of getting involved in politics. This came a day after Musk, the world’s richest person and a former White House adviser, announced he was launching a new political party.
“The principles of Doge were very popular—but if you looked at the polling, Elon was not,” Scott Bessent said on CNN’s State of the Union. He was referring to the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (nicknamed “Doge”), which Musk briefly led at the start of Trump’s second term.
Polls showed that Doge—and Musk’s aggressive budget cuts and layoffs in the federal government—were deeply unpopular. Bessent noted that investors in Musk’s companies, such as Tesla, which saw declining sales during Musk’s government involvement, wanted him to return to focusing on his businesses.
“So I believe the boards of his companies wanted him back to focus on running those businesses,” Bessent said. “I imagine those boards weren’t happy about his announcement yesterday and will urge him to stick to business, not politics.”
Bessent’s comments came after Musk followed through on his promise to form a new party and accused his former ally Trump of “bankrupting” the country with a massive tax-and-spending bill.
Musk announced his new party, called the America Party, in a series of posts late Saturday and early Sunday on X, the social media platform he owns.