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By Jason Collins
Elon Musk, the man who launched a car into orbit, redefined the electric vehicle market, and made Twitter (now X) his megaphone, has a new ambition: President (or at least presidential kingmaker) of the United States. After a dramatic falling out with Donald Trump, Musk stunned political observers by announcing the formation of a new political faction: the American Party.
Is this the next chapter in a visionary’s playbook, or just the latest move in a personal grudge match? Can Musk’s billions buy more than influence? Can they build a movement?
Musk’s Political Moves
Musk’s path to politics was unconventional but inevitable. He had flirted with political commentary for years: tweeting libertarian memes, criticizing bureaucracy, and occasionally endorsing candidates who matched his techno-optimist ideology. Many expected Musk to quietly back Trump in 2024, their shared distrust of the establishment and love of spectacle making them strange bedfellows.
But the alliance didn’t just fizzle. It combusted. Spectacularly.
After the 2024 assassination attempt on Trump, Musk took center stage, declaring his allegiance to the president and even stepping into a quasi-official role. He became a “special government employee” with a mission to eliminate federal inefficiency, an agenda he dubbed DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency.
His surprise appearance at the White House in February became instant lore.
I have more power than any elected representative,
Musk said, half-joking, half-dead serious.
From Power Broker to Political Enemy
That joke didn’t age well.
Elon Musk has never done well with limits; not in business, not in technology, and certainly not in politics. That’s part of what made his entry into Washington so compelling. But it’s also what made his breakup with Trump inevitable.
Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee” may have been informal, but his ambitions were anything but. He wasn’t content to be a back-channel advisor or a glorified tech czar. He wanted impact. He wanted change. And, above all, he wanted credit. Power without recognition, especially in a Trump White House, was never going to last.
The deeper story here isn’t just political. It’s psychological.
Elon Musk operates on a personal mythos of disruption. He sees himself as the lone visionary who sees what others can’t. That narrative works in Silicon Valley, where risk-takers are lionized and CEOs can pivot on a dime. But Washington is a different beast: slow, transactional, tribal. Musk’s impulse to move fast and break things collided head-on with a system designed to move slowly and blame others.
And that clash triggered something deeper.
Psychologically, Musk often frames conflict not as a disagreement of ideas but as a personal betrayal. Critics aren’t just wrong, they’re obstacles. Competitors aren’t just rivals; they’re enemies to be exposed. This binary worldview, visionary or villain, left little room for compromise once he found himself sidelined in Trump’s inner circle.
When the tax-and-spending bill came out, cutting EV subsidies and boosting federal largesse, Musk didn’t see it as a typical political trade-off. He saw it as an attack. His public condemnation wasn’t just policy-driven. It was personal. He posted late-night tirades on X, lambasted “boomer economics,” and accused Trump’s allies of selling out America’s future for “cheap applause lines.”
And when Trump responded by blocking Musk from key policy channels and mocking him as “off the rails,” the split became final. What started as a collaboration became a feud, and like many of Musk’s feuds, it had to be public, relentless, and total.
Musk’s psychological makeup rewards escalation. It’s how he’s won battles with regulators, unions, journalists, and even his boards. Politics, to Musk, isn’t a collective process; it’s a battlefield of willpower, where victory goes to the most relentless disruptor.
So, when Trump exiled him from the administration, Musk didn’t just walk away. He retaliated. He posted a poll. He summoned his millions of followers. “Do we need a new political party?” Eighty percent said yes, leading Musk to proclaim,
You shall have it.
And within hours, he declared the creation of a new party, not to reform the system, but to break the back of the one that had rejected him.
In that sense, the American Party isn’t a political movement as much as it is a psychological extension of Elon Musk himself: impatient, adversarial, performative, and profoundly individualistic. It’s the political equivalent of a hostile takeover.
But like all of Musk’s ventures, it carries the same risk: the line between genius and self-destruction is razor-thin. And in politics, there are no emergency bailouts or boardroom resets. There’s only the public. And they’re not shareholders. They’re voters.
The American “Retaliation” Party
Thus was born the American Party, more in vengeance than vision. As of now, it exists more as branding than a ballot-access machine; the paperwork remains pending. But Musk has already started framing it as a movement for fiscal reform, digital governance, and post-partisan disruption.
The rhetoric is vintage Musk: smash the old systems, optimize the future, punish inefficiency. And yet, beneath the techno-utopian wrapping lies something simpler, a billionaire’s response to being sidelined.
In press briefings and cryptic X posts, Musk promises “a reboot of the Republic.” The party’s platform remains vague, but central themes have emerged: balanced budgets, streamlined governance, AI-assisted policy, and candidate vetting via algorithm. In short, Silicon Valley populism in a red, white, and blue wrapper.
Game Changer or Political Game?
Third parties in America rarely succeed, but they do disrupt. And Musk knows this. Unlike past third-party dreamers, he isn’t wasting time on presidential fantasies. Instead, he’s focusing the American Party’s resources on targeted congressional races, hoping to flip House and Senate seats in swing districts. It’s a smart move that sidesteps the Electoral College and puts pressure on lawmakers from within.
Smart doesn’t equal sustainable, and the math is brutal. Without grassroots infrastructure, ballot access in all 50 states, and deep ties to local communities, the American Party is a vanity project on a clock. And while Musk commands massive online influence, social media likes don’t translate into precinct captains, canvassers, and county chairs.
Even allies admit the odds are long. Dr. Nick Beauchamp, political science professor at Northeastern University, put it bluntly:
It’s almost inconceivable. A third party needs to capture at least 15% of both Democrat and Republican voters just to enter the conversation.
That’s historically hard to do. Almost impossible within our current hypertribal politics..
Billionaires Play, Americans Pay
Elon Musk’s American Party may look shiny and disruptive, but beneath the surface, it’s beginning to feel like just another front in a growing war between billionaires. A personal feud dressed up as political reform.
Yes, Musk talks about balance sheets and efficiency. But where does that leave everyday Americans? Stuck in the middle. While Musk and Trump hurl insults and fight for dominance, it’s working families who face rising costs, unstable policies, and a government more distracted by tech-fueled drama than real solutions.
The two-party system may be broken, but Musk isn’t building a new foundation. He’s launching another rocket of chaos, this time aimed straight at the political system. And while the rich argue over who gets to run the show, it’s ordinary people who are left cleaning up the mess.
So, is the American Party a game-changer?
Not unless it changes the game for the people who need it most. Until then, it’s just another billionaire power play; one that promises disruption but delivers more division. Keep the people agitated while the billionaire boys club continues the steal.
Curtis Scoon is the founder of ScoonTv.com Download the ScoonTv App to join our weekly livestream every Tuesday @ 8pm EST! Support true independent media. Become a VIP member www.scoontv.com/vip-signup/ and download the ScoonTv App from your App Store.
