‘A
billion people backing you’: China transfixed as Musk turns against Trump
Tesla CEO’s
feud with US president dominates Chinese social media, with many praising his
‘tech-driven mindset’
Amy Hawkins
in Beijing
Wed 2 Jul
2025 06.44 BST
Few
break-ups have as many gossiping observers as the fallout between the once
inseparable Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The
ill-fated bromance between the US president and the world’s richest man, which
once raised questions about American oligarchy, is now being pored over by
social media users in China, many of whom are Team Musk.
The latest
drama comes from Musk’s pledge to found a new political party, the America
party, if Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, which Musk described as
“insane” passed the Senate this week (it did). Musk had already vowed to unseat
lawmakers who backed Trump’s flagship piece of legislation, which is expected
to increase US national debt by $3.3tn.
On
Wednesday, hours after the bill passed the US Senate, the hashtag
#MuskWantsToBuildAnAmericaParty went viral on Weibo, a Chinese social media
platform similar to Musk’s X, receiving more than 37m views.
“If Elon
Musk were to found a political party, his tech-driven mindset could inject
fresh energy into politics. The potential for change is significant – and worth
watching,” wrote one Weibo user.
“When you’ve
had enough, there’s no need to keep putting up with it,” wrote another.
One comment
summed up the mood on the platform: “Brother Musk, you’ve got over a billion
people on our side backing you.”
Musk, the
CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is widely venerated in China for his business acumen
and technological achievements. Tesla’s electric vehicles are the only western
brand on Chinese roads that can rival domestic firms, and the company’s biggest
factory by volume is in Shanghai. Musk is known to have a close relationship
with China’s premier, Li Qiang, while Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, is a social
media celebrity in her own right in China.
Musk’s
popularity in China follows a well-established trend of Chinese audiences
enthusiastically embracing US tech innovators. Walter Isaacson’s biography of
Steve Jobs was a bestseller in China, as was his biography of Musk.
Trump,
however, is seen by many as being an unpredictable funnyman who has launched
the most aggressive trade war on China in recent history.
Some
internet users commented that Trump and Musk should grow up. “These two grown
men argue nonstop over the smallest things – and the whole world ends up
knowing about it,” wrote one user, while another joked: “Every day, Musk is
basically live-streaming ‘How Billionaires Argue’”.
The
conversation has been allowed to flourish on China’s tightly controlled social
media, suggesting that at least some censors are betting that the US political
chaos could be no bad thing for China.
Additional
research by Lillian Yang
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