Elon Musk has launched a political startup after his success in the business world. The world’s richest man began his political journey about a year ago when he backed President Trump’s election campaign with a nearly $300 million donation.
However, disillusionment with the Trump administration and the Republican Party, who once praised him as their own “George Soros,” led Musk to chart a new path.
After a brief stint in the administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, the temporary cost-cutting initiative, Musk distanced himself from Trump. His frustration peaked with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, Trump’s signature tax and spending package, which Musk cited as evidence of a broken two-party system that he said was “bankrupting our country with waste and graft.” This disenchantment ultimately inspired the creation of the America Party.
Will Musk’s ‘America Party’ Help Or Hurt Trump?
On the surface, it seems that the America Party might hurt Republicans’ chances in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. So far, the new party’s platform includes responsible fiscal measures, i.e., reining in spending and balancing the budget, something that Musk attempted to do with DOGE. Moreover, Musk’s long time political stance of freedom of speech and less regulation will also be part of America Party’s platform. Well, that might be a problem for Trump and the GOP, who historically have been the party of deficit reduction and less government overreach.
It remains to be seen whether the America Party will field any candidate in 2026. Musk has leaned towards it and suggested that the party might be strategic about where it spends its resources. “One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,” he wrote on X.
If he does field candidates, the House might be the place where the America Party can tilt the scales in the Democrats’ favor. The GOP currently has a slim advantage in the lower chamber, and the president’s party historically suffers heavy losses in the House during midterm elections. In the Senate, there is more breathing room for Trump with a three-seat advantage and a favorable electoral map.
Look At The Past Of Third Parties In US
Third parties have had negligible success in the American political system. Libertarians, the largest third party in the US, do not have any elected officials in Congress or statewide offices. The last third-party candidate to achieve success on the ballot was former boxer Jesse Ventura, who won the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election on the Reform Party ticket. But he, too, switched to an independent one year into his term.
In the current Congress, only two independents serve in either chamber. They are independent Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, both of whom caucus with the Democrats.