A Saber-Rattling Musk Promises a New Political Party if the G.O.P. Bill Passes

 

A Saber-Rattling Musk Promises a New Political Party if the G.O.P. Bill Passes

 

The billionaire and former Trump adviser suggested that if the domestic policy bill passed, he would swiftly form a new “America Party” and back primary challenges to Republicans.

 

Theodore Schleifer

By Theodore Schleifer

Theodore Schleifer covers Elon Musk’s political work.

Published June 30, 2025

Updated July 1, 2025, 1:18 a.m. ET

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-bill-republicans.html

 

The country’s biggest Republican donor called on Monday for the formation of a new political party and suggested he would back primary challengers against nearly every single Republican in Congress.

 

That was the saber-rattling declaration of Elon Musk, should Republicans on Capitol Hill pass President Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill.

 

While Mr. Musk’s words are often just that, he has dramatically escalated his anti-Republican rhetoric over the past few days. On Monday, he suggested that if the G.O.P. bill passed, he would swiftly form a new “America Party.”

 

“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” he wrote in one of several Monday posts to his 220 million followers on X. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”

 

By the evening, Mr. Musk was committing to specific action, saying that he would support Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, among the most prominent holdouts against Mr. Trump’s bill. Though various G.O.P. factions have voiced concerns about the legislative package, potentially imperiling its passage, almost every Republican member in Congress supports some version of it.

 

At one point in the evening, Mr. Musk wrote that nearly the entire House and Senate G.O.P. “will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth” — a tall task for even the world’s richest person, who donated nearly $300 million to Republican candidates in the 2024 election.

 

Mr. Musk went out of his way to call out two House Republicans who style themselves budget-cutters as leaders of the House Freedom Caucus: Representatives Andy Harris of Maryland and Chip Roy of Texas. He also squabbled with Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.

 

As Mr. Musk campaigned against the bill, Mr. Trump appeared to threaten the subsidies Mr. Musk’s companies, including SpaceX, receive from the federal government.

 

“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media early Tuesday. “No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE.”

 

“Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?” he added, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency, a group Mr. Musk formed.

 

Mr. Musk has had a tenuous, brief relationship with the Republican Party. A longtime Democrat, he began identifying with the G.O.P. only in 2022, and only began making heavy, public contributions to the party ahead of last November’s election. His extraordinary blowup with Mr. Trump in early June hastened his stated interest in the formation of a new party. He made a poll on X amid the feud asking: “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”

 

Forming a viable third party would be a herculean task, and there were no immediate signs on Monday that Mr. Musk or his advisers were preparing to do anything concrete.

 

Only five weeks ago, the tech billionaire was singing a very different tune, saying he would spend “a lot less” on elections in the 2026 cycle.

 

Theodore Schleifer is a Times reporter covering billionaires and their impact on the world.