A day after Elon Musk intensified his public disagreement with Donald Trump by announcing the formation of a new US political party, the Republican president’s Treasury Secretary stated that Musk should focus on managing his companies.
Furthermore, investment firm Azoria Partners, which had plans to launch a fund tied to Musk’s electric automaker Tesla, announced it was delaying the venture. The firm cited the creation of the new party as posing “a conflict with his full-time responsibilities as CEO.”
Musk had declared on Saturday his intention to establish the “America Party” as a direct response to Trump’s tax-cut and spending bill, which Musk claimed would lead to the country’s bankruptcy.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the boards of directors at Musk’s companies—Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX—would likely prefer him to remain out of politics. “I imagine that those boards of directors did not like this announcement yesterday (Saturday) and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,” Bessent said.
Musk, who previously served as a top adviser to Trump on downsizing and reshaping the federal government during the initial months of his presidency, stated that his new party aims to unseat Republican lawmakers in Congress in next year’s midterm elections who supported the extensive measure known as the “big, beautiful bill.”
The White House did not directly address Musk’s threat but affirmed that the bill’s passage demonstrated the Republican Party’s strong standing. “As the leader of the Republican Party, President Trump has unified and grown the party in a way we’ve never seen,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.
Musk had previously invested millions of dollars to support Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign and frequently appeared alongside the president in the White House Oval Office and other venues. Their disagreement over the spending bill led to a falling out that Musk briefly attempted, unsuccessfully, to reconcile.
The bill, which includes tax cuts and increased spending on defense and border security, was passed last week along party-line votes in both chambers of Congress. Critics have argued that it will harm the US economy by significantly increasing the federal budget deficit.
Trump has attributed Musk’s discontent to the measure, which Trump signed into law on Friday, eliminating green-energy credits for Tesla’s electric vehicles. The president has threatened to withdraw billions of dollars in government contracts and subsidies that Tesla and SpaceX receive, in retaliation for Musk’s criticism.
Bessent suggested that Musk holds limited influence with voters, who, according to the treasury chief, favored the Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative Musk spearheaded, more than they favored the world’s wealthiest person himself. “The principles of DOGE were very popular,” Bessent said. “I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not.”
Investor Rebuke and Democratic Response to Musk’s Political Venture
Musk’s announcement of a new party immediately drew a rebuke from Azoria Partners, which stated on Saturday that it would postpone the listing of its Azoria Tesla Convexity exchange-traded fund. Azoria was scheduled to launch the Tesla ETF this week.
Azoria CEO James Fishback posted several critical comments about the new party on X 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. On Sunday, Fishback further added on X, “Elon left us with no other choice.”
Stephen Miran, the chairman of Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, defended the tax-cut bill on ABC’s “This Week” program. “The one, big, beautiful bill is going to create growth on turbo charge,” Miran asserted.
The Democratic Party appeared to welcome the rift between Trump and Musk. “Trump’s MAGA party is splitting at the seams in the wake of his nightmare budget bill,” said Abhi Rahman, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee. “Republicans are waking up and facing the reality that they just signed their pink slips, and are desperate for someone else to blame.”
