Trump slams Musk's new political party as 'ridiculous'

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (July 6) slammed former ally Elon Musk's launching of a new political party as "ridiculous," reports AFP.

"I think it's ridiculous to start a third party," Trump told reporters before he boarded Air Force One on his way back to Washington from his New Jersey golf club.

"It's always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to the confusion. Third parties have never worked. So he can have fun with it, but I think it's ridiculous," he said.

Musk announced on Saturday that he would create the so-called "America Party" to challenge what he called the United States' "one-party system."

Musk says the president's massive domestic spending plan would explode the US debt, and has vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it.

The world's richest man was almost inseparable from Trump as he headed the cost-cutting "Department of Government Efficiency," but they fell out hard over the president's "big beautiful" tax and spending mega-bill.

On Sunday, Trump launched a fresh attack on Elon Musk describing the billionaire entrepreneur as a "train wreck that has derailed" in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.

"He has completely lost control," Trump wrote, escalating his long-standing feud with the Tesla CEO.

Trump also criticized Musk's push for mandatory adoption of electric vehicles, calling the plan unreasonable. "This would force Americans to buy electric cars in a very short period of time," he said.

Trump has recently introduced a new tax policy that eliminates federal tax credits for electric vehicle purchases, further signaling his opposition to the Biden-era green energy agenda.