Elon Musk to launch 'America Party'?…"2 to 3 Senate seats are enough"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, posted an online poll on the social networking service X on the 4th (local time) asking for opinions on the foundation of a new political party. He expressed his intention to challenge President Donald Trump and to make concrete plans for founding the party.

On X that day, Musk stated, "Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want to become independent from the two-party (sometimes called the one-party) system!" and asked, "Should we found the America Party?"

Musk claimed, "One way to do this is to focus on 2 to 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts," and explained, "Given how narrow the seat margins are, that would be enough to give decisive votes on contentious bills and ensure the true will of the people is reflected."

Musk appears to intend to establish a new party and, by absorbing 'anti-Trump/non-Democrat' votes in next year's midterm elections—even with just a minority in the upper and lower houses—block the Republican Party from unilaterally passing President Trump’s policy bills and wield influence as a 'third party' holding the casting vote.

After posting about forming a new party, Musk shared a post by Republican Senator Rand Paul, who opposed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' (OBBBA) President Trump was signing that day, and added a '100 points' emoji indicating full agreement.

At the end of last month, facing an upcoming Senate vote, Musk harshly criticized those senators voting in favor, telling them they "should be ashamed and hang their heads." He also strongly objected, saying he would campaign for their defeat in next year’s elections.

After Musk served as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during the launch of Trump’s second administration—directing federal government reorganization for a special 130-day tenure—he began to criticize the OBBBA bill and confront President Trump.

Although the conflict seemed to be resolved around mid-last month when Musk apologized and President Trump accepted, it reignited as Musk renewed his strong criticism just before the final passage of OBBBA.

On the 1st, President Trump threatened via Truth Social to cut government subsidies to Musk's companies, and during a Q&A with reporters, said that regarding the possibility of deporting Musk—an American citizen—to his native South Africa, he would "have to look into it."

Reporter Yonghyun Shin, Hankyung.com yonghyun@hankyung.com