Donald Trump says Elon Musk’s new political party is ‘ridiculous’

Musk was almost inseparable from Trump as he headed the cost-cutting Doge but they fell out over the President’s 'big beautiful' tax and spending mega-bill. Photo / Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has scoffed at former ally Elon Musk’s idea to form a new political party, saying it is “ridiculous”, deepening the Republican’s feud with the man who was once his biggest backer.

Trump also branded the SpaceX and Tesla tycoon a “train wreck” who had gone “off the rails” after Musk said he wanted to challenge the current US political system.

The world’s richest man was almost inseparable from Trump as he headed the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, but they fell out hard over the President’s “big beautiful” tax and spending mega-bill.

“I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party,” Trump told reporters.

“It’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion. Third parties have never worked. So he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous,” he said.

At the weekend, South African-born Musk announced that he would create the so-called America Party to challenge what he called the United States’ “one-party system”.

Musk says the President’s massive domestic spending plan would explode the US debt, and has vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it.

The former Doge boss, who led a huge drive to slash federal spending and cut jobs, equated Trump’s Republicans with rival Democrats when it came to domestic spending.

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste and graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk posted on X, the social media platform that he owns.

Musk gave few details of his plan, and it was not clear whether he had registered the party with US electoral authorities, but it could cause Republicans headaches in the 2026 midterm elections – and beyond.

‘Saddened’

In a sign of how sensitive the issue could be for Trump, he took to his Truth Social network while still on Air Force One to double down on his assault on Musk.

“I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a train wreck over the past five weeks,” Trump posted.

“The one thing third parties are good for is the creation of complete and total disruption and chaos, and we have enough of that with the radical left Democrats.”

-Agence France-Presse