Elon Musk’s ‘America Party’ Takes a Back Seat
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Elon Musk quietly winds down his plans to start a third political party.
Musk has really not started jumping on doing this for a number of reasons. The number one thing we heard, of course, is that he wants to focus on running his two companies, Tesla and SpaceX.
Plus, McDonald's looks to rein in the cost of its combo meals. And in the latest installment in our Price of Parenting series, why expensive in vitro fertilization is becoming more popular. It's Wednesday, August the 20th. I'm Azhar Sukri for The Wall Street Journal. Here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. We are exclusively reporting that Elon Musk is quietly pumping the brakes on his plans to start a political party. That's according to people with knowledge of his plans. We report that Musk's associates cancelled a late July call with an outside group that specialises in organising third-party campaigns, and that Musk has told allies that he wants to focus his attention on his companies Tesla and SpaceX.
This marks a shift from early last month when the billionaire said he would form what he called the America Party to represent US voters who are unhappy with the two major political parties. Journal White House economic policy reporter Brian Schwartz says Musk has signalled a reluctance to alienate powerful Republicans.
Musk, he wants to remain allied with Vice President J.D. Vance. We've heard that Musk has been telling people, that he is prepared to support Vance if he runs for president in 2028. And of course, if he did move ahead with launching a third party, which could hurt Republicans, it could set up a scenario where that alliance may break apart between Musk, Vance, and anybody else in the Trump orbit who still values Elon Musk, despite the past feud between President Trump and the Tesla CEO.
Brian adds that another hurdle for Musk in forming a new party is being able to hire anybody from the GOP who worked for him in the 2024 election.
When you look at what Elon did in the 2024 presidential election, he basically created his own Republican... type political operation called the America PAC. And that PAC was responsible for spending around $300 million to support Trump and Republicans running for congressional races. What that means is that the people he hired for those jobs, a lot of them were Republican-aligned firms.
What is the latest on Elon Musk pausing plans for a third political party?
So he can't just turn to these very same people to help him run a third party because some are concerned from what we heard that if they jump and support Elon Musk's third party effort, then they would not be able to do as much business in the GOP. And so in the end, I think that's part of the story here where it's really unclear who's going to work with Elon from his past political efforts.
Musk's allies said he hasn't formally ruled out creating a new party and could change his mind as the midterm elections near. Musk and his spokeswoman didn't respond to requests for comment. The Trump administration says immigrants applying for US visas and green cards will now have their social media scrutinised for so-called anti-American ideologies. US Citizenship and Immigration Services has said its officers should now give significant weight to evidence that an immigrant, quote, has any involvement in anti-American or terrorist organisations when reviewing residency, work and visa applications. The latest directive builds on an April announcement that immigrant social media would be screened for anti-Semitism and comes at a time when tensions are building between the federal government and cities that it's characterized as not providing sufficient immigration enforcement assistance.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:09
2
What is the latest on Elon Musk pausing plans for a third political party?
3:09–5:16
3
Why does Musk say he wants to focus on Tesla and SpaceX instead of politics?
5:16–11:32
4
How could a new 'America Party' affect Musk’s alliances with powerful Republicans?
11:32–14:20