Tesla billionaire CEO Elon Musk has announced the official launch of his political party, America Party. Musk announced on Saturday, telling his over 180 million followers that he has officially launched his political party.
“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,” he posted on X, less than 24 hours after polling users on whether the US needs a new party. “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!” he said. The decision to launch the party came after the United States president signed a tax-and-spend bill into law, a move that has stoked tensions between both parties.
Elon Musk backed Trump with hundreds of millions during his campaign and served under his administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and close confidant, warned about the bill repeatedly. Trump disregarded his warnings, signing the bill anyway. The president also has plans to remove all federal subsidies going to Elon’s businesses, a number that runs into the tens of billions. Elon’s answer was simple: launch a party, cut ties, and go to war.
Elon Musk has plans to fund takedowns of lawmakers
According to Elon Musk, he has plans to spend his money to oust lawmakers who voted for the bill, and he intends to kickstart the process under a new party. Musk wants full control, and it is already freaking out the GOP. Republicans are worried that the public feud between him and Trump could wreck their chances of holding onto congressional seats in the 2026 midterms. “Increasing the deficit from an already insane $2T under Biden to $2.5T. This will bankrupt the country,” Musk said on X.
Election attorney Brett Kappel was asked by CBS News about the kind of experience needed to build a party like this. “Only the richest person in the world could make a serious effort at creating a new American political party,” he said. While Elon Musk’s wealth makes it possible, that doesn’t mean it would be easy. Every state has its own ballot access rules, and most of them are built to block third parties.
Kappel said political parties are “creatures of the states,” which means Elon has to navigate 50 separate systems. In places like California, it’s brutal. To even be recognized as a party there, you either register 0.33% of all voters or collect 1.1 million signatures. After that, you’ve got to keep up those numbers or win 2% of the statewide vote just to stay qualified.
Aside from California, every other state has its own rules and thresholds. This means that Elon will need to get each version of the America Party approved individually, and then request an advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission to be taken seriously at the national level. None of this happens quickly as legal teams will be all over it. Democrats and Republicans can, and definitely will, fight every signature. The lawsuits alone will cost a fortune.
The current legal system favors the two-party system and works to block third-party entries. Even for someone like Elon, getting recognized in all 50 states before 2026 is unlikely. “It might be doable for Musk to get a few favored candidates onto the ballot in certain states,” attorney Kappel said, but building a full national party “would take years.” still, Elon feels he doesn’t need 50 states, noting on X that a party could “laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.”