Musk launches America Party as feud with Trump escalates
Musk in a post on X on Saturday declared the formation of the 'America Party', to 'give back' the people of the US their freedom and challenge what he called the nation's 'one-party system'.
He cited a poll, uploaded on Friday – the US's Independence Day – in which he asked whether respondents 'want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system' that has dominated US politics for some two centuries.
The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses.
'By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!' Musk wrote on Saturday.
'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,' he declared.
The move comes amid a worsening of the feud between the world's richest man and Trump over the new budget law, which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said would bankrupt the US.
Musk was Trump's main campaign financier during the 2024 election, and led the Department of Government Efficiency from the start of the president's second term, aimed at slashing government spending.
The two have since fallen out spectacularly over disagreements about the 'Big, Beautiful Bill'.
Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit.
'They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,' Musk had said.
There was no immediate comment from Trump or the White House on Musk's announcement.
Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government, and to deport the South African-born tycoon.
'We'll have to take a look,' the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who has held US citizenship since 2002.
It is not clear how much impact the new party will have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that.
On Friday, after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House of Representatives and Senate seats, and for the party to become 'the deciding vote' on key legislation.
'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 on X.
All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one-third of the Senate's 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years.
Despite Musk's deep pockets, breaking the Republican-Democratic duopoly is a tall order, given that it has dominated US political life for more than 160 years, while Trump's approval ratings in polls in his second term have generally held firm above 40 percent, despite the president's often divisive policies. (Agencies)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
What is next for global trade as Trump's July 9 tariff deadline looms?
The global economy is on tenterhooks in the run-up to United States President Donald Trump's July 9 deadline for dozens of countries to reach trade deals or face sharply higher tariffs. Wednesday's deadline comes after Trump announced in April a 90-day pause on his steepest tariffs after his 'Liberation Day' plans sent markets into a tailspin. With billions of dollars in global trade at stake, US trade partners are racing to negotiate deals to avoid damage to their economies amid continuing uncertainty over Trump's next moves. What will happen when the deadline expires? The Trump administration has indicated that trade partners that fail to reach deals with the US will face higher tariffs, but there are big question marks around which countries will be hit and how hard. On Sunday, Trump said he would begin sending letters to particular countries this week outlining new tariff rates, while also indicating that he had sealed a number of new trade deals. Trump told reporters that he would send a letter or conclude a deal for 'most countries', without specifying any by name, by Wednesday. In an interview with CNN on Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said countries that do not reach a deal would face higher tariffs from August 1. Bessent disputed the suggestion that the deadline had moved and said tariffs for affected countries would 'boomerang back' to the levels originally announced on April 2. On Friday, however, Trump suggested the tariffs could go as high as 70 percent, which would be higher than the 50 percent maximum rate outlined in his 'Liberation Day' plan. Adding to the uncertainty, Trump on Sunday threatened to impose an additional 10 percent tariff on countries that aligned themselves with the 'anti-American policies' of BRICS, a bloc of 10 emerging economies, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as the founding members. 'There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!' Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. 'It's getting harder to guess what might happen given conflicting information from the White House,' Deborah Elms, the head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, told Al Jazeera. 'With the lack of 'deals' to announce before July 9, I'm not surprised that the US is both issuing threats of new, potentially higher rates to be imposed in letters and suggesting that deadlines could be extended to some if offers are deemed to be sufficiently attractive.' Which countries have reached trade deals with the US? So far, only China, the United Kingdom and Vietnam have announced trade deals, which have reduced Trump's tariffs but not eliminated them. Under the US-China deal, tariffs on Chinese goods were reduced from 145 percent to 30 percent, while duties on US exports fell from 125 percent to 10 percent. The deal, however, only paused the higher tariff rates for 90 days, rather than scrapping them outright, and left numerous outstanding issues between the sides unresolved. The UK's agreement saw it maintain a 10 percent tariff rate, while Vietnam saw its 46 percent levy replaced by a 20 percent rate on Vietnamese exports and a 40 percent tariff for 'transshipping'. A host of other key US trade partners have confirmed that negotiations are under way, including the European Union, Canada, India, Japan and South Korea. Trump administration officials have indicated that negotiations are primarily focused on a dozen-and-a-half countries that make up the vast bulk of the US trade deficit. On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that the EU, the US's largest trading partner, was working to conclude a 'skeletal' deal that would defer a resolution on their most contentious differences before the deadline to avoid Trump's mooted 50 percent tariff. India's CNBC-TV18 also reported on Sunday that New Delhi expected to finalise a 'mini trade deal' within the next 24-48 hours. The CNBC-TV18 report, citing unnamed sources, said the agreement would see the average tariff rate set at about 10 percent. Andrew K McAllister, a member of Holland & Knight's International Trade Group in Washington, DC, said while Trump is likely to announce a small number of deals that resemble those signed with China, Vietnam and the UK, most countries are probably looking at significant across-the-board tariffs. 'My view is that tariffs are here to stay,' McAllister told Al Jazeera. 'I view the bargaining chip to be the level at which the tariff is set. For countries in which the president and administration view tariffs and other non-tariff barriers against US products as significant, he is much more likely to impose higher levels of tariffs.' What will be the economic impact of Trump's trade war? Economists widely agree that steep tariffs over a sustained period would push up prices and hinder the growth of both the US and global economies. The World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) last month downgraded their outlook for the global economy, cutting their forecasts from 2.8 percent to 2.3 percent, and from 3.3 percent to 2.9 percent, respectively. At the same time, anticipating the impact of Trump's trade war has been made more challenging by his administration's repeated U-turns and conflicting signals on tariffs. Trump's steepest tariffs have been put on pause, though a 10 percent baseline duty has been applied to all US imports and levies on Chinese exports remain at double-digit levels. JP Morgan Research has estimated that a 10 percent universal tariff and a 110 percent tariff on China would reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by 1 percent, with the hit to GDP falling to 0.7 percent in the case of a 60 percent duty on Chinese goods. So far, the fallout from the tariffs introduced has been modest, though analysts have warned that inflation may still take off once businesses burn through inventory stockpiles built up in anticipation of higher costs. Despite fears of sharp price rises in the US, annualised inflation came in at a modest 2.3 percent in May, close to the Federal Reserve's target. The US stock market, after suffering steep losses earlier this year, has bounced back to an all-time high, while the US economy added a stronger-than-expected 147,000 jobs in June. Other data points to underlying jitters, however. Consumer spending fell 0.1 percent in May, according to the US Commerce Department, the first decline since January. 'As for the economy generally, the jury's out on whether we're still waiting on the worst of the tariff hit,' Dutch bank ING said in a note on Friday. 'The delay in China's tariff levels probably came just in time to avert a more serious recessionary threat. The latest jobs report certainly doesn't point to the bottom falling out of the labour market, though if we're talking about time lags, this is usually the last place economic damage shows up. Sentiment remains fragile, remember.'
Qatar Tribune
12 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Musk launches America Party as feud with Trump escalates
Billionaire Elon Musk has followed through on his pledge to create a new political party in the United States after President Donald Trump signed his controversial budget legislation, the so-called 'One Big, Beautiful Bill', into law. Musk in a post on X on Saturday declared the formation of the 'America Party', to 'give back' the people of the US their freedom and challenge what he called the nation's 'one-party system'. He cited a poll, uploaded on Friday – the US's Independence Day – in which he asked whether respondents 'want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system' that has dominated US politics for some two centuries. The yes-or-no survey earned more than 1.2 million responses. 'By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!' Musk wrote on Saturday. 'When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom,' he declared. The move comes amid a worsening of the feud between the world's richest man and Trump over the new budget law, which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said would bankrupt the US. Musk was Trump's main campaign financier during the 2024 election, and led the Department of Government Efficiency from the start of the president's second term, aimed at slashing government spending. The two have since fallen out spectacularly over disagreements about the 'Big, Beautiful Bill'. Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill, which experts say will pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the US deficit. 'They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,' Musk had said. There was no immediate comment from Trump or the White House on Musk's announcement. Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government, and to deport the South African-born tycoon. 'We'll have to take a look,' the president told reporters when asked if he would consider deporting Musk, who has held US citizenship since 2002. It is not clear how much impact the new party will have on the 2026 mid-term elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that. On Friday, after posting the poll, Musk laid out a possible political battle plan to pick off vulnerable House of Representatives and Senate seats, and for the party to become 'the deciding vote' on key legislation. '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 on X. All 435 US House seats are up for grabs every two years, while about one-third of the Senate's 100 members, who serve six-year terms, are elected every two years. Despite Musk's deep pockets, breaking the Republican-Democratic duopoly is a tall order, given that it has dominated US political life for more than 160 years, while Trump's approval ratings in polls in his second term have generally held firm above 40 percent, despite the president's often divisive policies. (Agencies)
Qatar Tribune
12 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
South Korea focuses on maximising ‘practical interests' in trade talks with US: Trade minister
QNA Washington South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-Koo has stressed that Seoul's focus on maximizing 'practical interests' in ongoing trade talks with the United States, as he arrived in Washington with just days left before US President Donald Trump's pause on steep tariffs expires. Speaking to the press, Yeo noted that 'all possibilities' appear to remain open, saying that the pause on reciprocal tariffs could be extended beyond Tuesday, and that the two countries could also reach a broad agreement in principle rather than a full-fledged trade deal, Yonhap News Agencyreported. Yeo's arrival came a little over a week after his last trip to the US capital, underscoring the new South Korean government's commitment to striking a trade deal with the Trump administration. He was set to resume talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the day. 'Through today's negotiations, we want to figure out more details about the US' plan and will engage in negotiations with a focus on finding ways for us to maximize practical interests,' Yeo said. On April 2, Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, including 25 percent duties on South Korea, in a move to match what other countries impose on American goods. The tariffs took effect on April 9, but he paused them for 90 days on the day to allow time for negotiations. Aside from reciprocal tariffs, South Korea is also seeking to minimize the impact of sector-specific tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum. 'We think that a relatively more difficult area is the sectoral tariff issue given that the US regards it as important from the standpoint of its industrial protection,' the minister said. 'But we have repeatedly emphasized that it is crucial (for South Korea) to get exceptions or ensure that the rates are significantly reduced, and we plan to reiterate that again today.' Despite uncertainty over the trade negotiations, Yeo painted a positive outlook for the future of bilateral industrial cooperation. 'Areas, where chances of mutual cooperation are high, are the artificial intelligence, automobiles, batteries, energy and the bio sector. They are areas where the US needs great cooperation in its efforts to rebuild its manufacturing, and I think South Korea has a unique value in those areas,' he said. 'We seek 'positive-sum' negotiations by putting together issues of industrial and technological cooperation between South Korea and the US for the mid- and long-term period of four to five years alongside tariff talks.' Yeo's visit to Washington came as South Korea's National Security Adviser Wi Sung-Lac is set to arrive in the US capital on Sunday for a three-day trip in what appears to be a move by President Lee Jae Myung's administration to ensure smooth cooperation between the two allies. On Friday, Trump said he will send letters to 12 countries, which specify their tariff rates, on Monday.
