Musk announces new political party in US

LOS ANGELES -- Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced Saturday that "the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom," following an online poll he launched earlier in the week that showed strong support for a new political force.

"Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system," Musk wrote in Friday's post announcing the poll. More than 65 percent of the 1.2 million respondents backed the idea.

Responding to the results on Saturday, Musk wrote, "By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it! When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy."

Musk said the America Party will laser-focus on two or three Senate seats and eight to 10 House districts, a strategy he believes could tip control in a narrowly divided Congress.

But election-law experts note the high barriers to entry for new parties. In California, organizers must either register about 75,000 members or collect 1.1 million signatures to appear on ballots.

Political strategists suggest Musk's announcement may be aimed more at pressuring lawmakers than building a durable third party. The move follows the passage of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut electric vehicle incentives and increased federal spending — measures that Musk, whose company Tesla benefits from EV subsidies, has opposed.

Musk has threatened to fund challengers to lawmakers who supported the bill. Trump, in turn, has hinted at reassessing what he called "billions in subsidies" tied to Musk-linked ventures.

Analysts say Musk's move appears more like a high-profile bargaining tactic than the beginning of a major shake-up of the US political system.