Elon Musk’s threat to launch a new political faction dubbed the “America Party” has drawn ridicule from within President Donald Trump’s inner circle.
“I think it’s the ketamine talking in the middle of the night,” said Trump pollster Jim McLaughlin, mocking the billionaire’s online social media musings on the matter and referencing media reports of Musk’s drug use, which he has vehemently denied.
“Trump is the Republican Party right now. He is the conservative movement. There’s not a hankering for a third party with Elon Musk,” McLaughlin told The Washington Post.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Musk’s lawyer for comment.
The Tesla chief has had clashed with the president online on numerous occasions since he exited the Trump administration in May after spending four months leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).Less than a week after his exit, Trump privately called Musk a “big-time drug addict,” according to The Washington Post.
Musk has denied a bombshell New York Times report claiming he used ketamine, ecstasy, magic mushrooms, and Adderall during Trump’s 2024 campaign trail.
“Also, to be clear, I am NOT taking drugs! The New York Times was lying their ass off,” he said in a defiant denial on X. “I tried *prescription* ketamine a few years ago and said so on 𝕏, so this not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO spent more than $250 million backing Trump during his presidential campaign last year.
But he’s now on a mission to challenge lawmakers who support Trump’s sprawling tax-and-spending package dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, which he has called “the biggest debt increase in history.”
He has accused them of betraying campaign promises to reduce government spending. “They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” Musk wrote on Monday.
Musk floated the idea of forming the “America Party” on June 5, posting a poll asking, “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?” He reiterated the idea Monday, stating, “If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day.”
Musk’s political vision remains unclear, even as he casts himself as a crusader against runaway government spending.
The billionaire’s personal popularity has also taken a massive hit over DOGE’s mission to bulldoze federal government spending, raising questions about just how successful he would be in the political arena.
Musk also took a hit when he and and his affiliated groups spent more than $20 million backing a conservative candidate who ultimately lost in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
A person who has served as a sounding board for Musk, speaking on the condition of anonymity to the Post to discuss a sensitive matter, questioned Musk’s broader political strategy in undercutting the very party he helped boost in 2024.
“I agree our government is broken, but it’s a tougher problem to fix than landing a rocket,” the source said.
