Trump criticizes Musk for starting a new party.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump referred to Elon Musk’s plans to start a new political party as “ridiculous,” taking fresh jabs at the tech billionaire and claiming that Musk’s business interests in space would have created a conflict of interest for the Musk ally he previously appointed to head NASA.
The Republican president was questioned about it before boarding Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, on his way back to Washington after visiting his local golf club, a day after Musk intensified his conflict with Trump and declared the creation of a new US political party.
“I believe that forming a third party is absurd. With the Republican Party, we are very successful. Trump told reporters, “I think starting a third party just adds to confusion, but it’s always been a two-party system, and the Democrats have lost their way.”
It appears to have been created with two parties in mind. He can enjoy himself because third parties have never worked, but I find it absurd.”
Trump made additional remarks on his Truth Social platform shortly after he spoke about Musk, writing, “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.”
Musk declared on Saturday that he was starting the “America Party” in reaction to Trump’s spending and tax cuts, which he claimed would cause the nation to go bankrupt.
“What the heck was the point of @DOGE if he’s just going to increase the debt by $5 trillion??” Musk mentioned the government downsizing agency he briefly oversaw in a post on X on Sunday. Critics claim that by dramatically increasing the federal budget deficit, the bill will harm the American economy.
In the upcoming midterm elections, Musk stated that his new party would try to unseat Republican members of Congress who supported the comprehensive proposal known as the “big, beautiful bill.”
Musk financed Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign with millions of dollars and, for a while, frequently visited the president in the White House Oval Office and other locations. Musk briefly made an unsuccessful attempt to mend the rift that resulted from their disagreement over the spending bill.
Musk is upset, according to Trump, because the bill, which he signed into law on Friday, eliminates green-energy credits for Tesla’s electric cars. In response to Musk’s criticism, the president has threatened to revoke the billions of dollars in government contracts and subsidies that SpaceX and Tesla receive.
‘INAPPROPRIATE’ NASA Appointment
In addition, Trump stated on social media that, given Musk’s affiliation with the space agency, it was “inappropriate” to appoint Jared Isaacman, an ally of Musk, as NASA administrator. Trump nominated billionaire private astronaut Isaacman to head NASA in December, but he withdrew the nomination on May 31 without providing an explanation or waiting for his Senate confirmation.
Trump, who has not yet named a replacement for Isaacman at NASA, confirmed Sunday that he did not approve of Isaacman’s prior support for Democratic politicians, according to media reports.
“I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon’s corporate life,” Trump stated on Truth Social. “My Number One charge is to protect the American Public!”
When Musk announced a new party, Azoria Partners scolded him right away, announcing on Saturday that it would delay the listing of its Azoria Tesla Convexity exchange-traded fund because the formation of the party presented “a conflict with his full-time responsibilities as CEO.” This week, Azoria was supposed to introduce the Tesla ETF.
James Fishback, the CEO of Azoria, reaffirmed his support for Trump and made a number of critical remarks about the new party on X.
“I encourage the Board to meet immediately and ask Elon to clarify his political ambitions and evaluate whether they are compatible with his full-time obligations to Tesla as CEO,” Fishback stated.
