Trump calls Musk’s new political party ‘ridiculous’ and says Tesla owner is ‘off the rails’
Welcome to our live coverage of US politics and the second Trump administration.
Donald Trump has hit out at Elon Musk’s decision to start and bankroll a new US political party that the tech billionaire believes can offer a viable alternative to the Democrats and Republicans.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One yesterday, the US president said:
I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party. It’s always been a two-party system and I think starting a third party just adds to the confusion.
Shortly after speaking about his former ally, Trump posted further comments on his Truth Social platform, writing:
I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.
Trump and Musk were formerly close allies, with the Tesla boss and X owner appointed to slash federal spending through the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) from January through May.
Musk fell out with the Republican president over his sprawling tax and spending plan, signed into law on Friday, which is expected to add at least $3 trillion (£2.2 trillion) to the US’s already huge $37tn (£27tn) debt pile. Musk has argued that the bill, which he has described as “utterly insane and destructive”, would irresponsibly add to the US national debt.
Musk, the world’s richest person, posted on X over the weekend that he had set up the America Party to challenge the Republican and Democratic “Uniparty”. The details of the structure of the new venture or a timeline for its creation are still unclear.
But some of his social media posts suggests the new political party would focus on two or three Senate seats, and eight to 10 House districts.
We will have more on this and other US politics stories throughout the day so stick with us.
Key events
The Guardian’s global affairs correspondent, Andrew Roth, has written up this analysis exploring the complicated relationship between Netanyahu and Trump and the prospects of a Gaza ceasefire deal. Here is a snippet:
Netanyahu and Trump have a complex personal relationship – and Trump openly vented frustration at him last month during efforts to negotiate a truce with Iran – but the two have appeared in lockstep since the US launched a bombing run against Iran’s nuclear programme, fulfilling a key goal for Israeli war planners.
Netanyahu arrives in Washington in a strong political position, observers have said, potentially giving him the diplomatic cover he would need to end the war in Gaza without facing a revolt from his rightwing supporters that could lead to the collapse of his government…
As Netanyahu comes to Washington on Monday for the third time since Trump’s inauguration, he appears to know exactly what he is doing. And while Trump has touted his bona fides as a dealmaker, the decision for when and how a ceasefire is implemented in Gaza appears ultimately out of his hands.
You can read more about the Israeli prime minister’s visit in our Middle East live blog being helmed by the excellent Charlie Moloney.
Cautious hopes for a Gaza ceasefire breakthrough as Netanyahu arrives in Washington
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is arriving in Washington today to meet his closest ally, Donald Trump, who has pushed for a “deal this week” between Hamas and Israel.
Trump is not scheduled to meet Netanyahu until 6:30 pm (2230 GMT) Monday, the White House said, without the usual presence of journalists.
The Israeli leader, who has relied on US weapons to fuel his country’s assault on Gaza, said he believed his discussions with Trump on Monday would help advance talks on a hostage release and ceasefire deal that Israeli negotiators resumed in Qatar on Sunday.
Ahead of Netanyahu’s third visit since Trump’s return to office this year, Trump said there was a “good chance” of reaching an agreement.
“We’ve gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,” he told journalists.
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel in 2023, triggering Israel’s war on Gaza, which, according to the territory’s health ministry, has killed over 57,000 Palestinian people to date.
Around 20 of the remaining hostages are believed to be still alive. A majority of the original hostages have been freed through diplomatic negotiations, though the Israeli military has also recovered some.
US to start sending letters to US trade partners dictating new tariffs, Trump says
Donald Trump has said his administration plans to start sending letters on Monday to US trade partners dictating new tariffs, amid confusion over when the new rates will come into effect.
“It could be 12, maybe 15 [letters],” the president told reporters, “and we’ve made deals also, so we’re going to have a combination of letters and some deals have been made.”
With his previously announced 90-day pause on tariffs set to end on 9 July, the president was asked if the new rates would come into effect this week or on 1 August, as some officials had suggested.
“No, there are going to be tariffs, the tariffs, the tariffs are going to be, the tariffs,” the president began uncertainly. “I think we’ll have most countries done by July 9, yeah. Either a letter or a deal.”
Sensing the confusion, his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, jumped in to add: “But they go into effect on August 1. Tariffs go into effect August 1, but the president is setting the rates and the deals right now.”
You can read the full story, by my colleagues Robert Mackey, Lauren Almeida and Lisa O’Carroll, here:
The US is extremely mindful of BRICS’ economic might and its growing influence on the diplomatic stage. The group, often described as the developing world’s alternative to the G7 group of nations, has undergone a recent rapid expansion.
BRICS was founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but the group last year expanded to include Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the UAE.
Some of its members have denounced US tariff policies and have suggested reforms to how major currencies are valued.
The group pushes for greater representation for emerging economies and thinks western countries have a disproportionate influence on global organisations like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Donald Trump threatens extra 10% tariff for ‘anti-American’ Brics policies
In other news, Donald Trump has widened his trade war after saying the US will impose an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the “anti-American policies” of the BRICS group of developing nations that include China and Russia.
Trump wrote on social media:
Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy.
His comments came after a joint Sunday statement from the opening of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro in which the group warned the rise in tariffs threatened global trade, continuing its veiled criticism of Trump’s erratic tariff policies.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has announced a series of steep import taxes on foreign goods, arguing they will protect American jobs and the US manufacturing industry.
In April, in line with this protectionist view, Trump announced a 10% base tariff rate on most countries and additional duties ranging up to 50%, although he later delayed the effective date for all but 10% duties until 9 July.
The negotiating window until 9 July has led to announced deals only with the UK and Vietnam. You can read more on Trump’s tariff threat in our business live blog.
My colleagues Richard Luscombe and Robert Mackey have a little more detail about how the feud between the world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful man has recently escalated. Here is an extract from their story:
When the pair fell out earlier in the summer, Musk lashed out during an astonishing social media duel in which he stated Trump’s name was in the files relating to associates of the late pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Musk later deleted the post and apologized to the president as they embarked on an uneasy truce. On Sunday, however, Musk returned to the subject, reposting a photo of the jailed Epstein facilitator Ghislaine Maxwell that questioned why she was the only person in prison while men who engaged in sex with underage girls – a crime colloquially known in the US as statutory rape – were not.
In other posts he said it would be “not hard” to break the two-party stranglehold in US politics enjoyed by Democrats and Republicans…
Trump has made clear his feelings about his former friend in recent days after criticism of the bill. In response to Musk’s posts calling the bill “insane”, Trump said he might “look into” deporting the South African-born, naturalized US citizen billionaire.
Trump calls Musk’s new political party ‘ridiculous’ and says Tesla owner is ‘off the rails’
Welcome to our live coverage of US politics and the second Trump administration.
Donald Trump has hit out at Elon Musk’s decision to start and bankroll a new US political party that the tech billionaire believes can offer a viable alternative to the Democrats and Republicans.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One yesterday, the US president said:
I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party. It’s always been a two-party system and I think starting a third party just adds to the confusion.
Shortly after speaking about his former ally, Trump posted further comments on his Truth Social platform, writing:
I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.
Trump and Musk were formerly close allies, with the Tesla boss and X owner appointed to slash federal spending through the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) from January through May.
Musk fell out with the Republican president over his sprawling tax and spending plan, signed into law on Friday, which is expected to add at least $3 trillion (£2.2 trillion) to the US’s already huge $37tn (£27tn) debt pile. Musk has argued that the bill, which he has described as “utterly insane and destructive”, would irresponsibly add to the US national debt.
Musk, the world’s richest person, posted on X over the weekend that he had set up the America Party to challenge the Republican and Democratic “Uniparty”. The details of the structure of the new venture or a timeline for its creation are still unclear.
But some of his social media posts suggests the new political party would focus on two or three Senate seats, and eight to 10 House districts.
We will have more on this and other US politics stories throughout the day so stick with us.
