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President Donald Trump slammed former first buddy Elon Musk for starting a third political party, saying such parties have “never worked” while also calling the move “ridiculous.”
Trump spoke with reporters before boarding Air Force 1 in Bedminster, New Jersey, when he was asked about Musk’s move to start a third party.
“I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party,” Trump said from the tarmac. “We have a tremendous success with the Republican Party. The Democrats have lost their way, but it’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion.
“It really seems to have been developed for two parties,” the president continued. “Third parties have never worked. So, he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous.”
Over 1.2 million votes were cast, with 65.4% saying “yes.”
“By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it,” Musk posted Saturday. “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy. Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
The move came just after Trump signed the “big, beautiful bill” into law Friday at the White House.
The sweeping $3.3 trillion legislation includes tax cuts, infrastructure spending and stimulus measures and has drawn criticism from fiscal conservatives and libertarians. Though Musk did not reference the bill directly in his America Party posts, the timing suggests rising friction between the billionaire and the president. Musk has previously warned that unchecked spending by both parties threatens the long-term health of the economy.
The new party, according to Musk’s posts, will target a few key seats in Congress. The goal is to create a swing bloc powerful enough to hold the balance of power and block what Musk sees as the worst excesses of both Republicans and Democrats.
Others, like Ralph Nader, have tried with the Green Party, and Gary Johnson with the Libertarian Party, but no third-party candidate has come close to winning the presidency.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
The post Trump dismisses Musk’s political ambitions as ‘ridiculous’ in sharp rebuke appeared first on Fox News.
