Billionaire Elon Musk announced on the weekend he was establishing the “America Party”. Source: Getty / Kevin Dietsch

Musk, who served as a top adviser to Trump on downsizing and reshaping the federal government during the first few months of his presidency, said his new party would, in next year’s midterm elections, look to unseat Republican politicians in Congress who backed the sweeping measure known as the “Big, Beautiful Bill”.

“I imagine that those boards of directors did not like this announcement … and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities,” Bessent said.

Trump-Musk relationship soured over ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

Musk spent millions of dollars underwriting Trump’s 2024 re-election effort and, for a time, regularly showed up at the president’s side in the White House Oval Office and elsewhere.

Elon Musk spent millions of dollars backing Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign and served as an adviser on government spending during the first few months of Trump’s presidency. Source: Getty / Brandon Bell

Their disagreement over the spending bill led to a falling out which Musk briefly tried unsuccessfully to repair.

Critics have said it will damage the US economy by significantly adding to the federal budget deficit.