Trump calls Musk's new party launch 'absurd'

Besant: 'The board will oppose it'

On the 6th (local time), former closest aide turned critic, former Tesla CEO Elon Musk's announcement of the founding of a new party was denounced as 'an absurd thing' by Donald Trump, President of the United States.

President Trump told reporters at the airport before returning to the White House from New Jersey. He said, "Launching a third party will only add to confusion," and emphasized, "Musk may find it amusing, but I think it's absurd."

Musk, who provided a large sum of campaign donations to President Trump during the last presidential election, became his closest aide after the election. Early in the administration, he led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheading federal budget cuts. However, Musk turned against Trump after strongly opposing the 'One Big Beautiful Bill', a key legislative agenda for realizing the President's policy. The reason was that this bill would greatly increase the U.S. fiscal deficit. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that national debt would increase by $3.3 trillion over the next ten years if the bill was enacted.

On Independence Day, the 4th, after President Trump signed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' passed by Congress into law, Musk launched an online vote regarding the new party. The day before, he made the creation of the new party official on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "Today, the America Party is founded to give you back your freedom."

Checks from Trump’s side are also continuing. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, asked in a CNN interview whether the Trump administration was concerned about Musk’s new party, said, "His company’s board wants him to come back and manage the companies." He added, "The board probably disliked Musk's announcement yesterday and will encourage him to focus on business activities, not politics."

New York = Reporter Park Shin-young nyusos@hankyung.com