Musk announced the creation of the America Party on Sunday – two days after sweeping Republican-backed tax cuts were signed into law.  

Musk called the bill “insane” and accused Republicans of “bankrupting” the country with “waste and graft.”  

Trump dismissed the news as “ridiculous” and said a third party would just “add to the confusion.” He later posted on social media: "I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks."

Once one of Trump’s most loyal allies, Musk headed up his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and slashed federal jobs and spending, including the international aid and development agency, USAID.  

New political parties typically struggle to pull any significant support away from the Republican and Democratic parties.  

But Musk, the world's richest man who spent at least $250 million supporting Trump in the 2024 election, could impact the 2026 midterms if he is willing to spend significant amounts of money. 

His reignited feud with the president could also be costly for Musk, whose businesses rely on billions of dollars in government contracts and publicly traded company Tesla has taken a hit in the market. 

It wasn’t clear whether Musk had taken steps to formally create the new political party. Spokespeople for Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, didn't immediately comment Sunday. 

As of Sunday morning, there were multiple political parties listed in the Federal Election Commission database that had been formed in the hours since Musk’s Saturday X post with versions of “America Party” of “DOGE” or “X” in the name, or Musk listed among people affiliated with the entity. 

But none appeared to be authentic, listing contacts for the organization as email addresses such as "[email protected] ″ or untraceable Protonmail addresses. 

Last month, he threatened to try to oust every member of Congress that voted for Trump's bill. Musk had called the tax breaks and spending cuts package a “disgusting abomination," warning it would increase the federal deficit, among other critiques. 

“The Republican Party has a clean sweep of the executive, legislative and judicial branches and STILL had the nerve to massively increase the size of government, expanding the national debt by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS,” Musk said Sunday on X. 

His critiques of the bill and move to form a political party mark a reversal from May, when his time in the White House was winding down and the head of rocket company SpaceX and electric vehicle maker Tesla said he would spend “a lot less” on politics in the future. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who clashed with Musk while he ran DOGE, said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that DOGE's “principles” were popular but “if you look at the polling, Elon was not.” 

“I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,” he said.