The tech billionaire and Trump's former ally Elon Musk, now a rival, announced on Saturday that he is forming a new party called the America Party.
It has always been a two-party system, and I think a third party just increases the confusion, said Trump to reporters, on his way on board his presidential plane on Sunday evening.
Shortly thereafter, Trump also attacked in writing:
"I'm sorry to see Elon Musk going completely off the rails, in principle he has become a WRECK over the past five weeks," the president writes on his platform Truth Social.
Arguing on social media
Elon Musk was seen frequently by the side of future President Donald Trump during the election campaign last autumn and was until recently his advisor, and responsible for the efficiency agency Doge, which was formed to cut the state's expenses.
But since Musk left his position in the White House in May, he has on several occasions quarreled with the president via social media.
Musk has directed harsh criticism at Trump's state budget, which was voted through last week. He has opposed both the cuts to electric vehicle support and the fact that the budget will increase the US national debt.
Trump has, among other things, responded that Musk – who is the CEO of both the space company Space X and the electric car giant Tesla – has received more subsidies than anyone else and that he without subsidies would have to "go home to South Africa".
"Waste and corruption"
Musk's new party will, according to Musk, stand for reduced national debt, deregulation, and freedom of speech.
"When it comes to ruining our country with waste and corruption, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," Musk wrote on X on Saturday and announced that he is starting a new party to "give you back your freedom".
But the tech billionaire should stick to his business commitments, according to US Finance Minister Scott Bessent.
I imagine that the boards of his various companies did not like yesterday's message and will urge him to focus on his business rather than politics, said Bessent to CNN on Sunday.
