Elon Musk, with his son X Æ A-Xii, speaks with President Donald Trump and reporters in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 11. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
If money talks in American politics, Elon Musk is bellowing. Having spent $288 million last year to spur Donald Trump and his allies into office, Musk has a new message as the president’s massive tax and immigration bill appears headed for passage: Get in line with the cost-cutting agenda you campaigned on or get out of office.
There’s no doubt that the richest man in the world could make a sizable impact at a time of widespread distrust of the political system and other democratic institutions. But his threat this week to start a third major political party has been met with widespread skepticism, as critics pointed to numerous failed bids over decades — including by lesser business titans — to disrupt America’s two-party system.
Musk’s challenges go far beyond the fraught history of third-party attempts. His business empire is struggling in the wake of his aggressiveforay into politics. His clash with Trump and his costly and unsuccessful effort to elect a Wisconsin Supreme Court judge have eroded his political capital. And his popularity plummeted as the U.S. DOGE Service, the cost-cutting effort he oversaw, upended the federal government, further exposing Americans to his polarizing persona and ideas.
Evensome of Musk’s own supporters have expressed doubtsabout the direction he now plans to take, preferring that he stay focused on the business ideas that fueled his net worth of roughly $400 billion.
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