Elon Musk is so desperate to be buddies with J.D. Vance that he’s quietly abandoning his plans to launch a new political party, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO threatened to create what he called the America Party amid a bitter feud with President Donald Trump earlier this summer.
Now he’s having second thoughts as he doesn’t want to scare off powerful Republicans, including Vice President Vance, who he sees as Trump’s heir apparent to serve as the GOP presidential nominee in 2028, according to people with knowledge of Musk’s plans.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
It marks a sharp U-turn in Musk’s strategy since he expanded his political ambitions in early July. The world’s richest man has been in touch with the vice president and has acknowledged that creating a rival political party would ruin their relationship, according to the Journal.
He’s also considering financially backing Vance should he run in 2028, after pouring in nearly $300 million to get Trump elected, the newspaper reported.
When approached for comment by the Journal, a spokesman for Vance referenced the vice president’s sitdown with far-right The Gateway Pundit, in which he said, “it’s a mistake for [Musk] to try to break from the president.”
“My hope is that by the time of the midterms, he’s kind of come back into the fold,” Vance said in the interview, which aired earlier this month.
A Trump confidant in June revealed that the president was left emotional over the bitter online feud with his “first buddy” Musk.
“The president was actually hurt,” the source told Axios. “Yes, he has feelings, and he was hurt the way anyone would be when a friend turns on them.”
The president’s epic falling out with Musk was sparked by a fiery clash over Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Musk blasted the proposed spending package as fiscally reckless and a “disgusting abomination” that would sabotage his work with the Department of Government Efficiency by adding trillions to the deficit.
On the day Trump celebrated Congress passing the bill, Musk wrote on X, “Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system! Should we create the America Party?”
Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system!Should we create the America Party?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 4, 2025
He added in another post, “One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.”
“Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Musk and Vance for comment. Musk’s allies told the Journal he hasn’t formally thrown his new rival party plans down the drain, and that he could change his mind later on.
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