ELON Musk has announced that he is forming a new political party following his fall out with US president Donald Trump.
Musk, once an ever-present ally to Trump as he headed up the slashing agency known as the Department of Government Efficiency, fell out with the Republican president over his signature legislation, which was signed into law on Friday.
As the bill made its way through Congress, Musk threatened to form the “America Party” if “this insane spending bill passes”.
Musk said on Saturday on X/Twitter, the social media company he owns: “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
Trump has since hit out at the billionaire's plan, telling reporters on Sunday that he thought it was “ridiculous” to start a third party.
The US president added: “It's always been a two-party system and I think starting a third party just adds to the confusion.”
Musk, who had been teasing the idea of creating a new party for weeks, posted on X/Twitter over the weekend that he had set up the America Party to challenge the Republican and Democratic “Uniparty”.
On Sunday, the owner of the electric vehicle firm Tesla said that while the new party may back a presidential candidate at some point and that the “focus for the next 12 months is on the House and the Senate”.
Trump also posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, saying: “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a train wreck over the past five weeks.”
The post was in reference to Musk's Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate, which Trump said would have “forced everyone to buy an electric car in a short period of time”.
Trump’s tax and spending plan, which he signed into law on July 4, ended tax breaks for electric vehicles.
The US President added that he had opposed Musk's proposal for an EV mandate from the beginning.
He said: “People are now allowed to buy whatever they want – Gasoline Powered, Hybrids (which are doing very well), or New Technologies as they come about – No more EV Mandate.”
The legislation includes increased spending on border security and defence and is being offset by cuts to healthcare and food-support programmes.
