From Advisor to Opponent - Elon Musk Declares Political War on Trump

It is the open break of a once powerful alliance: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and former chief strategist of Trump's government overhaul, is turning against the president - publicly, directly, irreparably. On July 5, 2025, Musk announced the founding of his own party: the "America Party." The following day came Donald Trump's response - not as a politician, but as a scorner. In a social media outburst, he wrote: "I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely off the rails. He has become a train wreck." What sounds like personal disappointment is in fact political tremor. For Musk, who during the early years of Trump’s second presidency still led the "Department of Government Efficiency," is not only leaving the White House - he is openly withdrawing his loyalty. The reason is Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" - a gigantic package of tax cuts, military buildup, border enforcement, and drastic cuts to social programs. The independent budget office CBO projects a debt increase of $3.4 trillion. Musk calls it "a catastrophe." In a post on his platform X, he wrote: "When it comes to systematically bankrupting this country, we are already living in a one-party system. No democracy. Today we are founding the America Party to give freedom back." Trump responded with scorn - and a warning: "Third parties create nothing but chaos and destruction. And we already have enough of that with the radical left Democrats."

And it is precisely that sentence that reveals the explosiveness. Because Elon Musk has already announced he will finance primary challengers against all Republicans who supported Trump’s legislative package. "Every member of Congress who campaigned against spending and then voted for the biggest debt avalanche in history should be ashamed. And they will lose - if it’s the last thing I do on this Earth." According to Forbes, Musk’s fortune stands at $405 billion. Around $290 million of it he had recently funneled into Republican campaigns - including Trump’s presidency. Now that money becomes a weapon against his own camp. Musk had even tried to calm the waters. After his abrupt departure from the White House, he publicly apologized for previous outbursts to make a return to the president’s circle of influence possible. But with this now final break, that phase of alliances of convenience comes to an end.

In May, Musk had announced he would withdraw from politics to focus again on Tesla and SpaceX. But frustration over debt policies and loss of control over the political direction apparently led to a rethink - and to the founding of the "America Party." Its slogan: Give back freedom. Whether this party will succeed is uncertain. But the U.S. political system knows all too well the fate of third parties: failure. Donald Trump directly alluded to that in his response - not entirely without reason. But this time could be different. Because the man taking a stand here is not some eccentric dissenter. It is Elon Musk. And like Trump himself, he has proven time and again that the rules of politics do not interest him.