Musk should worry about his companies, not politics: Bessent

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday threw some shade at Elon Musk after the tech billionaire announced he had created a political party, suggesting the Tesla and SpaceX boss focus on business and not politics.

On Saturday, the South African-born Musk -- an ally-turned-critic of President Donald Trump -- said he was founding the "America Party" to challenge what he called the country's "one-party system."

When asked by CNN if Musk's plan bothered the Trump administration, Bessent offered a thinly veiled criticism of the world's richest person.

"I believe that the boards of directors at his various companies wanted him to come back and run those companies, which he is better at than anyone," Bessent said.

"So I imagine that those board of directors did not like this announcement yesterday and will be encouraging him to focus on his business activities, not his political activities."

Bessent said the principles of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk ran for several months as part of Trump's drive to slash government spending and jobs, were "very popular."

But he added: "I think, if you looked at the polling, Elon was not."

Musk and Trump were once very close, and Musk was the top donor to the Republican's 2024 presidential campaign.

But the pair had a bitter falling out over the president's massive domestic spending plan, with Musk saying it would explode the US debt.

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The billionaire, who has held US citizenship since 2002, has vowed to do everything in his power to defeat lawmakers who voted for it. 

Musk left DOGE in May to focus full-time on his corporate responsibilities, with Tesla's sales and image especially suffering from his brief venture into Trump's inner circle.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a longtime backer of Tesla who had encouraged Musk to step back from DOGE, said creating a political party was the wrong move.

"Musk diving deeper into politics and now trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the opposite direction that Tesla investors/shareholders want him to take during this crucial period for the Tesla story," Ives said.

"While the core Musk supporters will back Musk at every turn no matter what, there is a broader sense of exhaustion from many Tesla investors that Musk keeps heading down the political track," he added.

"Initial relief" among Tesla shareholders over Musk's DOGE departure has "taken a turn for the worst," Ives said.

In after-hours electronic trading, Tesla shares were down 0.85 percent at midday Sunday.

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