Donald Trump responded with relative restraint on Sunday, July 6, to former ally Elon Musk, who announced the previous day he was founding a new political party, the America Party. The US president simply described the initiative as "ridiculous," claiming it would only bring "confusion."

Trump had lashed out against Musk in harsher terms in the days leading up to Congress's approval of a budget that would increase the US deficit, threatening the world's richest man with deep cuts to the federal budgets that benefit his companies. The bill was approved on Thursday, July 3, and Trump signed it into law the following day.

By announcing the creation of the party, which would only become official upon registration with the Federal Election Commission, Musk is striking at a sensitive chord: voters' regularly expressed exasperation at a political culture split into two irreconcilable camps. A 2024 survey by polling institute Gallup showed a clear majority of respondants, 58%, believed a third party was "needed," a result consistent with that of previous years. The entrepreneur explained his approach by saying it was about giving a voice to the "80% in the middle" who lack a moderate party able to represent them.

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