After several hours of deliberation, the Senate narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill on Tuesday, sending it back to the House. The outcome was the exact opposite of what Elon Musk, Trump’s one-time ally and the country’s biggest Republican donor, had hoped for. Ahead of the vote, Musk continued his long-time opposition to the bill, and vowed to create a new rival political party, titled the America Party, should the Republicans pass it.
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“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uni-party, so that the people actually have a voice,” Musk said via his social media platform, X, on Monday evening.
The former lead of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who had a big falling out with Trump after leaving the position a few weeks ago, maintained his stance on Tuesday, as he reposted a Kalshi betting poll that stated the “odds of Musk creating a new political party in 2025 surge to 41%.”
Read More: Senate Narrowly Passes Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ Sending It Back to House
During the series of posts shared with his more than 220 million followers, Musk seemingly committed to campaigning against any Republicans that showed their support for the bill. “Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame,” he said. “And they will lose their primary next year, if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
Musk also ramped up his support, and donated towards the re-election campaign, of Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has incurred the wrath of Trump due to being one of the bill’s key critics.
This all comes after Musk, in June, said the “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.” He took things a step further by telling his millions of followers to “call your Senator, call your Congressman… kill the bill!”
It’s a sharp turnaround for Musk, who actively campaigned for Trump in 2024 and shared the stage with him at significant rallies. Musk’s super political action committee (PAC), America PAC, reportedly spent around $200 million to help elect Trump, making the Tesla CEO Trump’s largest, and most prominent, donor in the 2024 election.
In response to Musk’s most recent opposition to his bill, Trump delivered a stark warning to his former ally on Tuesday morning.
When asked by reporters if he is going to deport Musk, who has U.S. and South African citizenship, Trump replied: “I don’t know, we’ll have to take a look.”
“We might have to put DOGE on Elon. The monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible?” Trump teased, seemingly referring to the contracts and subsidies that Musk’s prominent businesses have from the federal government.
Musk initially floated the idea of establishing a new political party in the U.S. in early June, during the height of his feud with Trump, that took a personal turn when it crossed over into social media.
Amid posts critical of the policy bill and Trump himself, Musk had asked X users to vote in a poll as to whether a new political party should be established that “actually represents the 80% in the middle.”
80% of respondents voted yes, leading Musk to say: “The people have spoken. A new political party is needed in America to represent the 80% in the middle!”
Aside from saying his new political party would “represent” the middle, and more recently suggesting he will back primary challengers against Republicans in Congress who supported the bill, Musk has yet to share any specific proposed policies or highlight what the core tenets of his party would be.
Attempts to establish a successful third party in U.S. politics have long proven to be difficult and near-impossible. In 2020, Andrew Yang pushed for representation beyond the two-party system, but the former 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate has arguably had limited success with his Forward Party.
However, in light of Musk’s eagerness to create a new third party, Yang is keen to join forces with the Tesla CEO.
“Elon has built world-class companies from nothing more than an idea multiple times, and in this instance, you have the vast majority of Americans who are hungry for a new approach,” Yang said in an interview with Politico in June. “I’m happy to spell it out for Elon, or anyone else who wants to head down this road. A third party can succeed very quickly.”
Meanwhile, in 2021, in response to the Jan. 6 Capitol Riots, over a hundred anti-Trump Republicans threatened to breakaway and form a party of their own, should the GOP not distance itself from Trump. But the idea failed to gain any significant momentum.