Monday, February 23, 2026

Musk Backing Down on ‘America Party’ to Build Ties With Vance: Report.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Elon Musk appears to have paused plans to launch a political party to challenge President Donald J. Trump and the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterms.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Elon Musk, President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Andrew Yang, Mark Cuban, and Libertarian National Committee chairman Steven Nekhaila.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Recent weeks, with new developments reported by The Wall Street Journal.

đź’¬KEY QUOTE: “It doesn’t seem like anything has been in action, neither at the state level or at the ground level,” Nekhaila said of Musk’s proposed ‘America Party.’

🎯IMPACT: Musk may shift focus back to his companies and rebuild ties with Republican leaders, particularly Vice President Vance, ahead of his possible 2028 presidential run.

IN FULL

Former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) frontman Elon Musk appears to be reaching for a rapprochement with President Donald J. Trump, with public outbursts against the America First leader dwindling and public support for his federalization of law enforcement in Washington, D.C. A Wall Street Journal report suggests Musk has also scaled back plans to form an ‘America Party’ to challenge Trump and the GOP in the 2026 midterms, focusing on building ties with Vice President J.D. Vance ahead of a possible presidential run in 2028.

The WSJ reports that Musk is considering backing Vance’s potential 2028 run financially, having already spent nearly $300 million in support of Trump and other Republicans in 2024. Despite this, and a prominent public-facing role in the early days of Trump’s second administration, the pair fell out over the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, aimed at expanding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and cutting taxes for American workers, with Musk complaining it would increase the deficit.

Musk has acknowledged that forming a third party “would damage his relationship with the Vice President,” according to the WSJ. Steven Nekhaila, chairman of the Libertarian National Committee, laments that Musk’s team has shown “eerie silence” on the America Party, with no activity at either the state or ground level. Meetings with third-party organizers, including former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Democrat donor Mark Cuban, were reportedly canceled.

Vance recently said that his it was “a mistake for [Musk] to try to break from the President,” expressing his “hope… that by the time of the midterms, he’s kind of come back into the fold.” Notably, Musk’s popularity cratered after he turned on President Trump, with his previous support for the MAGA kingpin having already damaged his standing with liberals.

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Vance Says Musk Made ‘Mistake,’ Urges MAGA-World Return for Midterms.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Elon Musk’s departure from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has led to ongoing tensions between Musk and President Donald J. Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance is calling for reconciliation.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Elon Musk, President Donald J. Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The fallout began in May with Musk’s departure from DOGE and has continued through recent months with public statements and interviews.

💬KEY QUOTE: “I really think it’s a mistake for [Musk] to try to break from the President. My hope is that by the time of the midterms, he’s kind of come back into the fold.” – J.D. Vance

🎯IMPACT: The strained relationship between Musk and Trump has implications for midterm election strategies, should the tech mogul follow through on his threats to field America Party candidates at scale.

IN FULL

Vice President J.D. Vance says he hopes that billionaire technology and aerospace mogul Elon Musk will reconcile with President Donald J. Trump ahead of the 2026 congressional midterm elections. While tension between Musk and the Trump White House has remained since the former’s rocky departure from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in late May—and Musk’s subsequent attacks on Trump’s budget proposal as a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled… disgusting abomination”—the billionaire has recently begun deleting social media posts critical of Trump and donated $15 million to pro-MAGA super PACs.

“I really think it’s a mistake for [Musk] to try to break from the President. My hope is that by the time of the midterms, he’s kind of come back into the fold,” Vice President Vance said during a media interview over the weekend.

During the falling out between Trump and Musk, beginning in May, the President threatened to pull SpaceX‘s government contracts, notably after Musk had threatened to end his company’s relationship with NASA. In addition, President Trump alluded to Musk as having pushed for greater government subsidies and other carveouts for his struggling electric car company, Tesla.

President Trump’s recent comments suggest a softened stance toward Musk. During an Oval Office press conference, Trump said, “I think he’s a good person, and I think he had a bad moment, a really bad moment, but he’s a good person. I believe that.”

Vance also warned Musk that his political future outside of the GOP is limited, saying, “My argument to Elon is, like, you’re not gonna be on the left, even if you wanted to be, and he doesn’t, they’re not gonna have you back. That ship has sailed.”

Musk has been in the initial stages of launching an “America Party” as an alternative to the Republicans and the GOP. However, such a party is unlikely to achieve anything beyond siphoning libertarian-leaning voters from the Republicans and putting the Democrats back in power.

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Musk’s Approval Has Cratered Since He Turned on Trump.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Elon Musk’s favorability rating has dropped significantly, particularly among Republicans, following his fallout with President Donald J. Trump.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Elon Musk, President Trump, and polling respondents.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Poll results were published on Thursday by CNN.

🎯IMPACT: Despite his slide in popularity, Musk’s proposed “America Party” could still siphon votes from the GOP, benefiting Democrats in future elections.

IN FULL

Elon Musk’s favorability rating has plummeted to 23 percent, according to new polling data released Thursday. The Tesla CEO, who has faced mounting criticism following his fallout with President Donald J. Trump, now sees 60 percent of Americans holding an unfavorable opinion of him. This marks a 12-point drop in favorability since March, alongside a seven-point increase in unfavorable views.

The decline found in the poll, released by CNN, is most pronounced among Republicans. In March, 75 percent of Republicans viewed Musk favorably, but that figure has since fallen to just 42 percent. This shift coincides with Musk’s announcement of his “America Party,” a new political venture aimed at creating a third-party alternative in the U.S.

Musk’s new party is struggling to gain traction. While an unscientific poll Musk conducted on X (formerly Twitter) showed support for the initiative, CNN’s scientific poll found that only 25 percent of Americans back the idea, with 74 percent opposed. The lack of enthusiasm could spell trouble for Musk’s ambitions, especially as the party’s impact appears to be limited to siphoning votes from Republicans.

According to Echelon Insights, the “America Party” would garner just five percent on a generic congressional ballot in 2026. However, that five percent would come entirely from Republican voters, shifting the balance from Republicans +1 to Democrats +4. This potential realignment could have significant consequences for upcoming elections.

Musk’s efforts to establish himself as a political force continue to face challenges, with his declining favorability and the potential disruption his party might cause within the American right. The fallout with President Trump appears to have further alienated a key base of support for the South African billionaire.

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Tesla Shares Tanked After Musk’s ‘America Party’ Announcement.

PULSE POINTS

âť“WHAT HAPPENED: Tesla’s stock price dropped seven percent after Elon Musk announced the formation of a new political party, the “America Party.”

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Elon Musk, President Donald J. Trump, and Tesla investors.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Announcement made over the weekend of July 4; stock slump occurred during Monday morning trading.

đź’¬KEY QUOTE: “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.” – Elon Musk

🎯IMPACT: Tesla’s stock decline and potential investor concerns over Musk’s political involvement.

IN FULL

Tesla’s stock price fell seven percent to $293 per share in morning trading on Monday, following Elon Musk‘s announcement over the weekend that he has formed a new political party named the “America Party.” The announcement came after Musk’s public split with President Donald J. Trump over the recently signed “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which increases immigration enforcement and cuts taxes for workers.

Musk, in a July 5 post on X, stated: “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.” He also hinted that his party would focus on influencing a small number of key Senate and House races. President Trump responded on Truth Social, calling Musk a “TRAIN WRECK” and accusing him of going “completely off the rails.” Musk has not yet disclosed specific steps taken to formalize the party, a process that would involve navigating state and federal regulations.

The announcement has raised concerns among Tesla investors. Notably, James Fishback, a former top Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer and technology investor, announced his firm would be pulling its support for Musk and Tesla, citing the billionaire’s political aspirations as potentially hurting Tesla’s business prospects. “Elon left us with no other choice,” Fishback said over the weekend.

Tesla was already facing significant market challenges, with sales of its electric vehicles dropping more than 13 percent from April to June compared to the same period last year. In Europe, sales fell by nearly 50 percent in April, even as the overall electric vehicle market grew.

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Musk Taps Tesla’s Indian CFO as ‘America Party’ Treasurer.

PULSE POINTS

❓WHAT HAPPENED: Elon Musk has tapped the India-born Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Tesla, Vaibhav Taneja, to serve as the treasurer of his new third-party group, the America Party.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Elon Musk and Vaibhav Taneja.

📍WHEN & WHERE: News of the Tesla CFO’s new role was made over the July 4, 2025, weekend.

🎯IMPACT: The launch of the America Party and Taneja’s role as treasurer has renewed the December 2024 fight between Musk and supporters of President Donald J. Trump over the former’s aggressive support for expanding H1-B visas, allowing the importation of cheap foreign labor.

IN FULL

Tesla CEO and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) frontman Elon Musk has tapped his struggling electric vehicle company’s chief financial officer (CFO), Vaibhav Taneja, to serve as the treasurer of the America Party. The move has revived criticism of Musk’s zealous support for replacing American workers with cheap foreign labor through H1B visas.

The move is also seeing renewed allegations of Musk and his associates being “broligarchs”—a term popularized by former Trump White House Chief Strategist and WarRoom host Stephen K. Bannon—as PACs and political parties typically employ experienced campaign finance experts as treasurers and avoid hiring personal company employees so as to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

The new America Party’s treasurer, Vaibhav Taneja, has served as Tesla’s CFO since 2023. Notably, Taneja was born and educated in India, receiving a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Delhi University in 1999 and a qualified chartered accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in 2000. From 1999 until 2016, Taneja appears to have worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in India, moving on to Solar City in 2016. A year later, Taneja became part of Tesla’s India operations after Solar City was acquired by Musk’s company, and in 2023, he ascended to the role of Tesla’s CFO.

On social media, the revelation that an Indian is serving as a leader in the America Party has drawn significant backlash. Musk, himself a South African immigrant, drew similar criticism in December 2024 over his aggressive support for the importation of cheap foreign labor. In a series of posts, Musk disparaged American workers, called for an unprecedented expansion in foreign work visas, and threatened that he would be unrelenting in his push to expand the number of foreign workers in America.

While Musk was eventually forced to walk back his comments—especially after it was pointed out that his own visa status was questionable before he attained U.S. citizenship—the billionaire tech mogul has continued to quietly advocate for increased foreign workers.

Meanwhile, Taneja’s role as CFO is also raising renewed allegations of “broligarchy.” The term refers to a tight-knit cadre of Silicon Valley technology billionaires who have attempted to gain political influence to consolidate their market dominance and access to foreign imports and cheap foreign labor.

Taneja, as the CFO of Tesla, has one of the highest compensations of any chief executive in the country. Notably, after incentives, Taneja’s salary of $139 million in 2024 far exceeded the salaries of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Having someone with such close financial and personal ties to Musk serve as the treasurer of Musk’s America Party could raise ethics concerns.

Whether Taneja is well enough versed in U.S. campaign finance law to perform his role, or capable of standing up to Musk, is unclear. Regardless, the fact that Musk installed Taneja as the America Party’s treasurer—given the plethora of potential ethical conflicts—will raise alarm bells.

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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Musk’s ‘America Party’ Is Ketamine-Fueled Delusion: Pollster.

PULSE POINTS

âť“WHAT HAPPENED: Former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) frontman Elon Musk attacked President Donald J. Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” and threatened to create a new “America Party,” but pollster Jim McLaughlin believes he is delusional.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Trump pollster Jim McLaughlin.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Musk’s comments were posted on X on Monday, following the Senate’s passage of the “one big beautiful bill.”

💬KEY QUOTE: “Trump is the Republican Party right now. He is the conservative movement. There’s not a hankering for a third party with Elon Musk.” – Jim McLaughlin

🎯IMPACT: Musk’s remarks have reignited a public feud with the Trump administration and raised questions about his political influence and personal behavior.

IN FULL

Threats by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) frontman turned Trump adversary Elon Musk to form a new “America Party” have been dismissed by Jim McLaughlin, President of McLaughlin & Associates Polls. Musk, in a post on his X platform, criticized the Trump-championed “one big beautiful bill” currently making its way through Congress, calling it “insane” and accusing the government of being a “one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!”

The bill fulfills many of President Trump’s campaign promises, for instance, by increasing funds for border security and immigration enforcement and cutting taxes on tips and overtime. However, Musk is unhappy with it because it increases spending without sufficient cuts for his liking—seemingly not understanding that, as a reconciliation bill, the “OBBB” is unable to make certain cuts to certain types of spending, which are being dealt with through separate legislation.

Musk proposed the idea of a new “America Party” that “actually cares about the people.” He also threatened to fund primary challengers to Republican lawmakers who support the OBBB. In response, President Donald J. Trump alluded to reports that Musk, originally from South Africa, came to the U.S. as an illegal immigrant, and suggested DOGE may begin to scrutinize Musk’s expensive federal contracts and subsidies.

Jim McLaughlin, a pollster for Trump, dismissed Musk’s political ambitions. “I think it’s the ketamine talking in the middle of the night,” McLaughlin said, referring to reports of Musk’s allegedly extensive drug abuse. “Trump is the Republican Party right now. He is the conservative movement. There’s not a hankering for a third party with Elon Musk,” McLaughlin added.

Polls suggest Musk is deeply unpopular, being despised by Democrats for supporting President Trump’s 2024 campaign and initial DOGE efforts—after previously voting for Joe Biden in 2020 and for Hillary Clinton in 2016—while his support among Republicans has also eroded due to his public attacks on Trump and America First stalwarts such as WarRoom host Stephen K. Bannon.

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Tesla Shares Are Dipping Amid Musk-Trump Spending Bill Clash.

PULSE POINTS

âť“WHAT HAPPENED: Tesla shares dropped sharply after a renewed public dispute between Elon Musk and President Donald J. Trump over the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, President Trump, and Tesla investors.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The stock drop occurred on Tuesday morning, following Musk’s comments over the weekend and on Monday. The dispute has played out publicly on Musk’s X platform (formerly Twitter) and elsewhere.

đź’¬KEY QUOTE: “The bill would destroy millions of jobs in America.” – Elon Musk

🎯IMPACT: Tesla’s stock dropped 7.1 percent in early trading and remains down 5.4 percent as of late afternoon. The ongoing dispute is causing investor concerns over government scrutiny of Musk’s ventures.

IN FULL

Tesla shares dipped Tuesday morning following a public spat between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald J. Trump over the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ which has passed the Senate and now heads back to the House for final approval. The electric vehicle company’s stock price fell 23 points in early trading, or 7.1 percent, and was down roughly 5.4 percent at $300.60 per share as of 1:50 PM EST.

Musk reignited the argument on Saturday by criticizing the bill, which President Trump is urging Congress to pass by July 4. Musk described the legislation as a “big, beautiful bill” that would “destroy millions of jobs in America.” On Monday, Musk escalated his rhetoric, suggesting he might form a new political party and support primary challenges against Republicans who vote in favor of the legislation.

President Trump responded Tuesday morning, highlighting the subsidies Musk’s companies receive from the government. He also suggested that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk previously led before stepping down in May, might investigate government spending linked to Musk’s ventures.

Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives noted in a report that investor concerns about increased scrutiny from the Trump administration could lead to weak trading early on, but he expects the situation to “settle at the end of the day.” Musk has previously called the reconciliation bill, which funds U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and border security while cutting taxes on tips, overtime, and social security, “pork-filled” and a “disgusting abomination.”

Tesla stock prices have fallen roughly 21 percent since the start of the year, with Musk’s involvement in political disputes becoming a significant issue for investors. The company is set to release its quarterly earnings tomorrow.

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