Elon Musk pledged to start a political party. He is already pumping the brakes.
Musk has told allies that he wants to focus his attention on his companies and is reluctant to alienate powerful Republicans by starting a third party that could siphon off GOP voters.
Musk's posture marks a shift from early last month, when he said he would form what he called the America Party to represent U.S. voters who are unhappy with the two major political parties.
As he has considered launching a party, the Tesla chief executive officer has been focused in part on maintaining ties with Vice President JD Vance, who is widely seen as a potential heir to the MAGA political movement. Musk has stayed in touch with Vance in recent weeks, and he has acknowledged to associates that if he goes ahead with forming a political party, he would damage his relationship with the vice president, the people said.
Musk and his associates have told people close to him that he is considering using some of his vast financial resources to back Vance if he decides to run for president in 2028, some of the people said. Musk spent close to $300 million to support Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election.
Musk's allies said he hasn't formally ruled out creating a new party and could change his mind as the midterm elections near.
But Musk and his team haven't engaged with many prominent individuals who have voiced support for the idea of a new party or could be a crucial resource to help it get off the ground, including by assisting with getting on the ballot in crucial states. His associates canceled a late-July call with an outside group that specializes in organizing third-party campaigns, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Participants were told that the meeting was canceled because Musk wanted to focus on running his businesses, the person said.
Musk and his spokeswoman didn't respond to requests for comment.
Any decision by Musk to nix plans to start a third party would be a win for Republicans ahead of next year's midterms. Historically, third parties often act as spoilers and pull votes away from the two main parties. For Vance, keeping Musk on his side could prove to be pivotal for his potential presidential ambitions. In 2024, Musk's political-action committee, America PAC, spent millions in battleground states such as Pennsylvania to help Trump win.
Asked for comment, a spokesman for Vance pointed to an interview the vice president did this month with the Gateway Pundit, a conservative website. In the interview, Vance said it would be a mistake to break with Trump and the conservative movement. 'So my hope is that by the time of the midterms, he's kind of come back into the fold," Vance said.
Musk had a public falling-out with Trump earlier this year, alleging that the president wouldn't be sitting in the Oval Office without his support and criticizing the far-reaching tax-and-spending package that Trump championed.
In July, Musk told his more than 200 million followers on X that he would organize the America Party with a goal of competing in House and Senate elections next year.
The Tesla CEO argued that the Trump-backed legislation contained too much government spending. Musk, who oversaw the Department of Government Efficiency before leaving the Trump administration in late May, threatened to support primary challenges against Republicans who voted in favor of the bill.
Trump, Musk and JD Vance at the Army-Navy football game in Landover, Md., in December.
There are signs Musk and Trump have reached a detente—at least for now.
They have stopped bickering on social media, and Musk hasn't recently posted anything on X critical of Trump or Republicans. Trump posted on Truth Social in late July that he wants Musk and his businesses to 'thrive," adding that their success is good for the country.
Trump had previously raised the possibility of terminating Musk's federal contracts. But the Trump administration conducted a review of SpaceX's contracts and determined that most of those agreements were critical to the functioning of the Defense Department and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
SpaceX, which Musk oversees as chief executive, could benefit from an executive order Trump signed last week that directed the administration to ease permitting rules for rocket flights.
As Musk announced his intention to start a party, the onetime presidential candidate Andrew Yang said he had been in touch with Musk and his team about the effort. Yang, who has previously advocated for a third party, hasn't divulged details of those discussions.
Others who support the idea haven't heard from Musk.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban endorsed the idea of Musk's new political party after the Tesla CEO made his July announcement. Cuban told the Journal in a recent email that he hasn't spoken to Musk or his team about the new party.
Some of Musk's own political advisers haven't had conversations with the Tesla CEO or his inner circle about helping him form a political party, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Veterans of Republican political campaigns said Musk would have trouble hiring the network of GOP advisers that he relied on during the 2024 election as he spent millions to boost Trump. If those same advisers helped him establish a party, the Republicans said, they would risk permanently damaging their relationship with Trump and his allies.
The Libertarian Party has been using social-media posts to try to encourage Musk to combine forces with it instead of launching his own party. The party has argued that it already has the resources and knowledge to put Musk's ideas into action by helping acquire the necessary voter signatures to get on the ballot.
Steven Nekhaila, chair of the Libertarian National Committee, said in an interview that he hasn't heard from Musk or his team, and hasn't received word of any serious effort by the billionaire's allies to establish a new party.
'It's almost an eerie silence," Nekhaila said. 'It doesn't seem like anything has been in action, neither at the state level or at the ground level."
Write to Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com
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