【By Observer Net, Ruan Jiaqi】

Elon Musk announced the establishment of a political party to run for election, aiming to target the Republican Party's midterm election votes, which has caused Trump to be extremely upset. According to U.S. media "The Hill", on July 7th, at around noon local time, Trump posted a long article on his own social media platform "Truth Social", criticizing this former major financier and close ally.

"I am deeply saddened to see Elon Musk completely 'go off the rails' in the past five weeks, almost becoming a train that has derailed," Trump expressed his "deep sorrow" at the beginning of the long article.

He further added, "He (Musk) even wants to establish a third party, although such parties have never succeeded in the United States - the system seems not to be designed for them at all. The only 'use' of third parties is to create complete chaos and destruction, and we have had enough of those radical left-wing Democrats who have lost their confidence and sanity!"

Excerpt from Trump's post

The complete split between Trump and Musk originated from the "Big and Beautiful" tax and spending bill that officially took effect last week. Musk condemned the bill as "extremely crazy and highly destructive", saying it would "destroy millions of jobs in the United States and cause great damage to our country."

However, Trump repeatedly claimed that Musk's opposition was because the new bill canceled the tax credit incentives for electric vehicles in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. He also reiterated this point in his Sunday post.

"This is a great bill, but unfortunately, for Elon, it abolished the ridiculous electric vehicle mandate, which originally would have forced everyone to buy electric vehicles in a short period of time," Trump wrote, "I strongly opposed this mandate from the beginning. Now people can buy whatever car they want."

Trump also recalled that over the past two years, he had mentioned this issue in his campaign, and Musk was not unaware of it.

He wrote, "To be honest, when Elon fully supported me at first, I asked him if he knew I would end this electric vehicle mandate. Every speech, every conversation I had, I mentioned that I would do so. He said he had no objection, and I was very surprised at the time!"

This long article also mentioned that Trump suddenly replaced Musk's friend Jared Isaacman (Jared Isaacman), appointing a new NASA administrator.

This happened just one day after Musk ended his advisory work and left the White House. The White House did not explain the reason for the "replacement," stating only that "the nominee must fully support Trump's 'America First' agenda."

Trump explained in his Sunday post that the sudden replacement was because he later found out that Isaacman was "a complete Democrat who had never donated a penny to the Republican Party," which surprised him. Isaacman previously stated that he believed his previous donations to the Democratic Party were not the reason for the withdrawal of his nomination, and that this information had already been public.

Trump also added, "NASA takes up a large part of Musk's business empire, so it is not appropriate for him to have his close friend take charge of NASA. My primary duty is to protect the American people!"

The "The Hill" reported that shortly before posting this article, Trump was interviewed by journalists in front of Air Force One, commenting on Musk's intention to establish the "American Party," saying, "I think forming a third party is absurd."

When responding to a journalist's question, he added, "He can play around, but I think this is too ridiculous."

U.S. media video screenshot

On July 5th, local time, Musk officially announced the establishment of the "American Party" to "return freedom to the people," and he also threatened to launch a "primary election ambush" against Republican lawmakers who supported Trump's "Big and Beautiful" tax and spending bill.

The "The Hill" reported on July 5th that while Trump and his allies are trying to salvage a difficult midterm election environment, Musk's recent statements have drawn indifference and frustration from Republicans.

A strategist from the party also warned that Democrats have become extremely angry with Musk, and if he continues like this, he will also lose the support of Republicans, becoming a "man without a country."

Some Democrats also believe that Musk establishing a new party sounds more like "a joke." However, analysts pointed out that according to Federal Election Commission regulations, a new party does not need to formally register with the Federal Election Commission unless its fundraising or spending exceeds a certain threshold, and with Musk's wealth, funding will not be a constraint.

This has led some Republicans to worry that if Musk's threat becomes real, it could divert resources from the midterm elections. And historically, this stage of the election is already unfavorable for the party of the incumbent president.

"One of the most destructive actions we've taken in the cycle of losing Senate elections... was to consume a lot of resources fighting within the party," a long-time Republican consultant involved in Senate campaigns warned.

Longtime Republican donor Bill Bain said, "I hope he won't do it, because I think arguing in the primary stage usually doesn't achieve anything, it just strengthens the opposition."

He admitted that Musk's argument that the "Big and Beautiful" bill would increase the U.S. fiscal deficit "has its merits," but he was more concerned that Musk's primary threat would force Republicans to divert resources to unimportant areas.

Although it is generally believed that Musk's desire to establish a party stems from his differences with Trump and the Republican Party he leads, U.S. media such as "Texas Tribune" and "Politico" discovered that Musk's political ambitions actually began as early as 2013, and as he helped Trump return to the White House, his influence on American politics has grown.

Now, Musk is entering the U.S. political arena with his "American Party," attracting attention from centrist figures including Andrew Yang, the Democratic candidate in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, but at the same time, his political actions have once again affected the operations of his companies, leading an investment company to delay the listing of a Tesla ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund).

U.S. media believe that how far Musk and his party can go in the future largely depends on the extent of political polarization in the U.S. and the level of voter dissatisfaction with the status quo.

This article is exclusive to Observer Net. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7524139789344735794/

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