'Ridiculous': Trump reacts to Musk's new political party

President Donald Trump has responded to news that Elon Musk is starting his own political party, calling the endeavour "ridiculous."

"I think it's ridiculous to start a third party," Trump said on Sunday. "We have a tremendous success with the Republican Party. The Democrats have lost their way, but it's always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion."

The U.S. does technically have more than two political parties, with other parties including the Green Party and Libertarians. However, the Democratic and Republican parties overwhelmingly dominate, resulting in a two-party system.

"Third parties have never worked," Trump continued. "So he can have fun with it, but I think it's ridiculous."

Trump also addressed the matter via his Truth Social account, again claiming that the Tesla CEO is upset with him for ending an alleged "EV mandate." Despite Trump's claims of an EV mandate "which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time," no such law has ever existed. However, Trump has dismantled incentives encouraging adoption of electric vehicles, including a $7,500 tax credit for drivers who buy a new EV.

"I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks," Trump posted (emphasis original). "He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States."

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Musk announced his new "America Party" on Saturday, after running a poll on X asking whether he should create it. Of the 1.2 million respondents, approximately 65 percent answered in the affirmative.

"When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy," Musk posted to X. The billionaire has repeatedly characterised the Democratic and Republican parties as being functionally identical. "Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom."

What are Musk's plans for the America Party?

Musk has already offered some insight into his potential strategy for the America Party, which apparently won't be aiming for the office of president quite yet.

"The way we’re 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," he posted on Saturday.

Epaminondas was an ancient Greek general who was instrumental in the Thebans' victory against the Spartans during the Battle of Leuctra. His strategy involved creating a column of his strongest soldiers around 50 fighters deep, who essentially speared through the Spartans' phalanx and smashed it apart. 

Interestingly, Epaminondas' column was fronted by the Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite unit of 300 gay men in 150 couples. As it currently stands, it seems unlikely that the pink vote will be leading Musk's political charge. The billionaire has been widely criticised regarding his views on LGBTQA issues, with hate speech on Twitter (now X) reportedly surging after he took control of the platform.

"One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts," Musk posted to X. "Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people."

Musk previously threatened to start the new "America Party" last week, expressing his disapproval of Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" and declaring that he would form a new political party if it passed. This spending bill ultimately did pass, with Trump signing it into law on Friday, July 4.

Musk cannot run for president himself, as he is not a "natural born Citizen" of the U.S. as required under the Constitution. Even so, the richest man in the world has already demonstrated there are a myriad other ways a billionaire can make his will known in U.S. politics. Having his own political party will be yet another tool in his belt.