‘Train wreck': Trump slams Musk's ‘ridiculous' new political party
Laura Loomer, a leading MAGA influencer, said the move could trigger Republican defections and split the party's base. 'I predict Tucker Carlson, MTG [Marjorie Taylor Greene] and Thomas Massie will join the new 'America Party' to spite President Trump,' she posted on X, adding that Carlson, the conservative commentator, was 'probably' going to run for president in 2028.
However, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted Musk's party would pose no threat. 'Look, the principles of DOGE were very popular. I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not,' he told CNN on Sunday.
Musk spent millions of dollars underwriting Trump's 2024 re-election effort and, for a time, regularly showed up at the president's side in the White House Oval Office and elsewhere.
However, their disagreement over the spending bill led to an acrimonious falling out that Musk briefly tried – unsuccessfully – to repair.
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Trump has said Musk is unhappy because the measure, which Trump signed into law on Friday, takes away green-energy credits for Tesla's electric vehicles. The president has threatened to pull billions of dollars that Musk's companies, Tesla and SpaceX, receive in government contracts and subsidies in response to criticism.
Trump on Sunday also said that the Musk ally the president initially named to lead NASA would have presented a conflict of interest.
In his social media comments, Trump said it was 'inappropriate' of Musk to have named Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator considering Musk's business with the space agency.
In December, Trump named Isaacman, a billionaire private astronaut, to lead NASA, but withdrew the nomination on May 31, before his Senate confirmation vote and without explanation.
Trump, who has yet to announce a new NASA nominee, on Sunday confirmed media reports he disapproved of Isaacman's previous support for Democratic politicians.
'I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon's corporate life,' Trump said on Truth Social.
'My Number One charge is to protect the American Public!'
Musk's announcement of a new party political immediately brought a rebuke from investment firm Azoria Partners, which said it would postpone the listing of its Azoria Tesla Convexity exchange-traded fund because the party's creation posed 'a conflict with [Musk's] full-time responsibilities as CEO'. Azoria was set to launch the Tesla fund this week.
Azoria chief executive James Fishback posted on X several critical comments about the new party and reiterated his support for Trump.
'I encourage the Board to meet immediately and ask Elon to clarify his political ambitions and evaluate whether they are compatible with his full-time obligations to Tesla as CEO,' Fishback said.
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