That's what it's about

• Elon Musk founded the America Party as a response to Trump's policies.
• He criticizes corruption and wants to give US citizens more freedom.
• Although he cannot become president, Musk plans to influence politics.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk is escalating his feud with his former confidant Donald Trump: He wants to establish his own political party in the US. On Platform X, the Tesla boss announced the name: America Party. This puts Musk in maximum opposition to the US president.

Musk wrote that the new party would restore freedom to US citizens. If the country is driven into bankruptcy by waste and bribery, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.

Climax of the feud with Trump

Musk's announcement marks a temporary climax in the feud between Trump and the tech billionaire. No one would have expected this just a few months ago: Musk had supported Trump's election campaign with more than $250 million and, after his inauguration, was tasked with cutting government costs. The budget cuts and job cuts implemented by the DOGE committee sparked fierce criticism and protests.

But then, at the beginning of June, a mudslinging match ensued. The two exchanged fierce accusations on social media—everyone could read them. Musk wrote, for example,"Without me, Trump would have lost the election."

What role does Musk want to play?

The Tesla CEO, who also has an electric car factory in Brandenburg, left open what role he intends to play in the announced new party. Should he actively participate in politics, Musk could directly position himself as a kind of opponent.

De facto two-party system in the USA

Unlike in Germany, where coalitions of several parties form the federal government and many parties sit in the Bundestag, in the USA there are the currently governing Republicans under Trump on the one hand and the Democrats on the other.

While other parties exist, the United States is de facto a two-party system. Smaller parties have little chance of major political success. The question is how promising Musk's plans are in this context.

Musk cannot become president

The founder of the space company SpaceX cannot become president himself because he was born in South Africa. However, as the world's richest person with an estimated net worth of around $360 billion, he believes he has the ability to significantly influence the outcome of elections at various levels. Musk threatened weeks ago to support opposing candidates for members of Congress who vote for the Trump bill.

In March, however, the limits of Musk's political power became clear. He threw his weight behind the campaign for a key judgeship in the state of Wisconsin – and the Republican candidate he supported lost significantly.

Musk's hard-right political views make him very unpopular with Democratic Party voters. His break with Trump could also turn a large portion of the Republican political base away from him. Both parties have voters who find Trump's course too right-wing, on the one hand, and some of the Democrats' positions too liberal, on the other. But Musk has positioned himself so clearly on the right in recent years that it will likely be difficult for him to win over the center.

Musk was Trump's shadow

After the election, Musk became a close confidant of Trump, who, to the surprise of many, sat at the cabinet table and – with his young son on his shoulders – became a virtual shadow of the president at many events in the White House.

Recently, however, Musk once again expressed his outrage over the major tax and spending bill signed by Trump on Friday, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. Among other things, he called for far greater spending cuts and warned that further increases in the national debt would burden future generations.