By Kate Nicholson
Elon Musk just declared that he has set up a new political party imaginatively named the 鈥淎merica Party,鈥 shortly after reviving feud with Donald Trump.
The richest man in the world helped to bankroll the US president鈥檚 election campaign on a Republican ticket last year and worked as his so-called 鈥淔irst Buddy鈥 once Trump returned to the White House.
But cracks between the two began to emerge over Trump鈥檚 tariffs on foreign imports 鈥 and then they had a full-blown feud over his 鈥渂ig, beautiful鈥 bill full of tax cuts and spending pledges.
It鈥檚 due to add more than $3tn to the US deficit over the next decade and was met with widespread backlash, but it still passed into law last week.
Musk has been openly criticising Trump ever since he left his role as the head of the advisory cost-cutting body, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in May.
Then, a day after asking his followers on his X platform if it was time for a new party to be set up, he wrote: 鈥淏y a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it.
鈥淲hen it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.
鈥淭oday, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.鈥
Musk previously warned he might start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who backed Trump鈥檚 鈥渂ig, beautiful鈥 bill.
Trump has since threatened to cut off the generous subsidies Musk鈥檚 firms receive from the federal government and even alluded to deporting his former friend who was born in South Africa.
When asked why he now attacks Trump, the tech mogul told his followers: 鈥淚ncreasing the deficit from an already insane $2T under Biden to $2.5T. This will bankrupt the country.鈥
He also expressed pretty high hopes for what his party could do, writing: 鈥淭he way we鈥檙e 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.鈥
Neither Trump nor the White House has commented on Musk鈥檚 鈥淎merica Party鈥 just yet.
It鈥檚 also not entirely clear if the group has been formally registered with US election authorities or who might lead it.
Musk did not mention that, as someone born outside of the US, he could not ever run for presidency.
The richest man in the world might struggle to may progress with the party too, considering America鈥檚 two-party system has dominated US politics for more than 160 years, and outsiders have struggled to break through to voters.