Musk’s New ‘America Party’ Faces Major Challenges—And Unnerves Tesla Investors
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, announced this weekend that he is launching a new political party, the “America Party,” following a public fallout with President Trump.
The move comes after Musk criticized Trump’s newly signed “Big Beautiful Bill,” warning that it would add trillions to the national deficit.
Musk’s third party aims to push back against what he described as a “one-party system,” restore fiscal responsibility, and “give you back your freedom,” he said on X Saturday.
While Musk has not yet completed the legal steps to register the party with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), he says it will focus on a small number of congressional races in the 2026 midterms.
He says the party’s platform will be pro-free speech, pro-gun, pro-natalist (having more children), pro-AI, and pro-cryptocurrency, among other issues.
Musk’s strategy to focus on the midterms and select House and Senate races could undermine Republicans running for office and capture just enough votes to make a difference in battleground states like North Carolina. The split could be a boon for Democrats, especially if Musk’s party can pick up votes from Republicans. Notably, Musk has been trying to drive a wedge by blasting the Trump administration for not reveling more about Jeffrey Epstein this week.
The New Party Comes Amid Musk - Trump Feud
Once Trump’s head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk had been one of the president’s most prominent supporters, but after Musk’s departure in May from the White House, the two men clashed over government spending and tax cuts.
The feud got pretty ugly with Musk suggesting Trump was a client of Jeffrey Epstein, and said the only reason Trump won the 2024 presidential election was because of him.
The feud between Musk and Trump had seemingly cooled after Musk expressed regret and deleted some of the most explosive claims he made about the president, but it reignited last week as the bill got closer to passing.
President Trump said last week the government may reconsider its massive contracts with Musk’s companies and described the Department of Government Efficiency as a monster that may - “go back and eat Elon.”
In a Truth Social post Sunday, Trump said Musk had gone “off the rails.”
The Challenges Of Launching A Third Party
The two-party system in the U.S. has long been criticized by voters looking for another choice, but efforts to form a third party have not had much success.
Experts in campaign finance and political science say it is financially and legally difficult to create a new party, and voters and candidates are hesitant to join.
Musk’s party will have to comply with the varying requirements for getting on ballots which have created issues for third-party candidates in the past where they have not been able to get on the ballot in all 50 states.
The last time a presidential candidate who was not a Republican or Democrat won electoral votes was 1968, when five Southern states went for American Independent Party nominee George Wallace.
Billionaire Ross Perot ran for president as an independent in 1992, winning nearly a fifth of the popular vote, but carried no states and won no electoral college votes in the election.
Fallout For Tesla
The political announcement had immediate consequences for Musk’s business, Tesla, as the stock fell nearly 7% Monday and lost more than $68 billion in market cap amid investor concerns over his increasing political involvement.
Analysts warn that his reentry into the political arena may further distract from Tesla’s ongoing challenges, including declining vehicle deliveries and growing competition abroad.
