Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent became the first White House official to respond to Elon Musk’s announcement.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent became the first Trump administration official to respond to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s announcement that he intends to form a new political party to challenge both Democrats and Republicans.
Over the weekend, Musk wrote on his social media platform X that he will launch the “America Party.”
During an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Bessent was asked about Musk’s decision. In his response, he suggested that the White House is ambivalent of Musk’s move.
“The principles of DOGE were very popular. I think, if you look at the polling, Elon was not,” Bessent told the outlet, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “I believe that the boards of directors at his various companies wanted him to come back and run those companies, which he is better at than anyone. So, I imagine those boards of directors did not like his announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities.”
While Musk had donated and raised millions of dollars for President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and later joined the administration to run DOGE for a 130-day period that ended in May, he and the president have had a falling out over the One Big Beautiful Bill that was signed into law last week by Trump. Prior to leaving the administration, Musk served as the frontman for DOGE, which was established by Trump to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse.
Musk has said that he believes the bill would lead to a heightened national debt.
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk wrote on Saturday. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
But Republicans and Trump have said that Musk likely is unhappy because the bill signed into law terminates federal subsidies for electric vehicles. Musk’s company, Tesla, is the largest manufacturer of electric vehicles.
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