 "Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk listens as then US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC, US on November 13, 2024. File Image/Reuters")
Elon Musk has unveiled his new political organisation, the America Party.
The announcement was made on July 6 through X, the social media platform owned by Musk, where he stated his intention to challenge what he characterised as a deeply entrenched and corrupt bipartisan system.
Musk’s declaration was explicit, “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste and graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.”
According to Musk, the party’s goal is to restore liberty to the American people and challenge the current political establishment, which he views as functionally monolithic in its tolerance for fiscal waste and inefficiency.
His initiative emerges amid heightened tensions with former political ally US President Donald Trump, particularly over the administration’s recently passed budget legislation, which Musk strongly opposed.
Musk’s break with Trump is not only ideological but also rooted in fiscal priorities. Once appointed to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge) during Trump’s administration, Musk oversaw aggressive federal cutbacks.
While Doge claimed to have saved $190 billion through drastic budget reductions, an independent evaluation by the Partnership for Public Service suggested the actual cost to taxpayers was a net loss of approximately $135 billion.
Musk departed from this post in May and soon after became increasingly vocal in criticising Trump’s latest budgetary decisions.
What is Musk’s game plan vis-à-vis America Party?
Rather than adopting a traditional broad-spectrum electoral strategy, Musk has indicated that the America Party will deploy a selective, high-impact approach in the 2026 US midterm elections.
In one of his many posts on X, he wrote, “One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.”
He added that this strategy, given the current narrow legislative margins in Congress, “would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring they serve the true will of the people.”
Musk’s approach, which he likened to a historical Greek military tactic, highlighted highly concentrated force at critical junctures.
He explained this analogy by referencing Epaminondas, the Theban general who shattered the dominance of the Spartan military at the Battle of Leuctra using an asymmetrical battlefield formation: “The way we’re going to crack the uniparty system is by using a variant of how Epaminondas shattered the myth of Spartan invincibility at Leuctra: Extremely concentrated force at a precise location on the battlefield.”
This suggests that the America Party will not field candidates nationwide but instead invest its resources into highly strategic races where it can have maximum influence — effectively acting as a legislative swing bloc.
Can Musk’s America Party disrupt the 2025 midterms?
The emergence of Musk’s party raises important questions about its potential effect on the existing political order.
Given that the America Party’s platform includes fiscal discipline, limited government regulation, and freedom of speech — principles long associated with the Republican agenda — many observers believe that it could siphon votes from the GOP rather than the Democrats.
Musk’s intention to compete in the 2026 midterms, not the 2028 presidential race narrows his focus. When asked on X whether the party’s first electoral challenge would be in 2026 or 2028, Musk replied, “We’ll start small, contesting key seats in 2026 to flip the balance, not 2028.”
The GOP currently holds a slim majority in the House, while it enjoys a more comfortable three-seat lead in the Senate following recent elections. The passage of Trump’s contentious budget bill illustrates just how delicate the congressional balance is.
The bill passed in the House with a razor-thin 218–214 vote, with only two Republicans joining every Democrat in opposition.
In the Senate, US Vice President JD Vance broke a 50–50 tie in favor of the bill. These narrow margins leave the door open for a minor political force to become a critical player.
Analysts suggest that if the America Party successfully flips a few key House districts, it could erode Republican dominance and potentially enable Democrats to reclaim control — ironically producing outcomes contrary to Musk’s likely preferences.
How has Trump responded to Musk’s America Party?
Musk’s criticism of Trump and the broader Republican leadership has intensified since the passage of the budget law. He accused the administration of fiscal irresponsibility and threatened to finance primary challengers against members of Congress who supported the spending package.
The budget is projected to increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion — a figure Musk has condemned as reckless.
Trump, in turn, has lashed out at Musk in a series of statements. On Truth Social, the president wrote, “Without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head to South Africa.”
In another comment to reporters in Florida, Trump joked, “We might have to put Doge on Elon. Doge is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible.”
He dismissed Musk’s political ambitions as unserious, “I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party… Third parties have never worked. So he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous.”
This war of words shows a growing rupture between two of the most influential figures in American public life. Musk, despite having donated $277 million to Trump’s re-election campaign in 2024, appears determined to confront the president head-on in future elections.
How do third parties fare in US politics?
Despite Musk’s wealth and reach, American history is largely unkind to third-party efforts. The US political system, reinforced by structural and legal barriers, makes it difficult for alternative parties to achieve lasting success.
The largest third party today, the Libertarian Party, holds no federal or statewide offices. The last notable third-party victory was in 1998, when Jesse Ventura became governor of Minnesota through the Reform Party — only to abandon the party and become an independent shortly thereafter.
In the current Congress, only two independents hold office: US Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine — both of whom caucus with Democrats. This demonstrates the immense difficulty of breaking the bipartisan dominance.
Additionally, forming a new party on a national scale entails significant procedural hurdles. Although political organisations are not required to register with the Federal Election Commission until they cross certain financial thresholds, states impose their own criteria for ballot access.
To run a presidential candidate across all 50 states, for example, a party must meet individual requirements in each jurisdiction. The America Party has not yet registered with the FEC or begun navigating these state-level complexities.
Compounding the challenge is Musk’s personal ineligibility for the presidency. Born in South Africa and naturalised as a US citizen in 2002, Musk cannot run for the country’s highest office.
This means he must not only build the party infrastructure but also recruit a viable presidential candidate who can command national attention and credibility.
Will Musk’s America Party succeed?
Musk’s formation of the America Party coincided with US Independence Day. As Americans marked 249 years since the Declaration of Independence, Musk leveraged the moment to conduct a public opinion poll on X.
More than 1.25 million users responded, with over 65 per cent supporting the creation of a new political entity. “Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system!” he posted.
He also reposted a viral image depicting a two-headed snake, branded with both the Democratic and Republican party logos, under the label “uniparty.”
One of the replies he endorsed read: “End the Uniparty.” Musk simply responded: “Yes.”
Whether this movement matures into a genuine political force or fizzles like many third-party experiments will depend on how effectively Musk and his allies can translate online support into electoral traction.
With inputs from agencies